A humanitarian airdrop turned tragic when five civilians, including two young boys, were killed in the Al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza on Friday. Reports indicate a failure in the parachute system of one of the parcels resulted in the fatal accident.
The fatal accident was confirmed by various sources, including unnamed officials from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, who were cited by CBS. The casualty figures were further corroborated by Muhammad Al-Sheikh, the Head of Emergency Care Department at Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, indicating the severity of the mishap.
CNN reported that alongside the tragic loss of life, there were ten other individuals, aged between 30 and 50 years, who sustained injuries in the incident; some are in serious condition.
The Gaza government lambasted the “useless” humanitarian effort as “flashy propaganda rather than a humanitarian service,” according to Al Jazeera.
“We previously warned it poses a threat to the lives of citizens in the Gaza Strip and this is what happened today when the parcels fell on the citizens’ heads,” it said in a statement.
The U.S. State Department, in a statement to DailyMail.com, clarified that the aid delivery in question did not originate from the United States. It is known that the U.S. was part of a coalition of six nations, including Jordan, Egypt, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium, that had begun dispatching humanitarian parcels to the conflict-ridden Gaza Strip starting last week.
The collective endeavor began last Friday, with the U.S. also participating by sending its first airdrop of humanitarian aid into the area, as reported by NBC News.
US Command Center wrote:
U.S. Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted a combined humanitarian assistance airdrop into Northern Gaza on March 7, 2024, at 3:20 p.m. (Gaza time) to provide essential relief to civilians in Gaza affected by the ongoing conflict.
The combined, joint operation included U.S. Air Force and Jordanian C-130 aircraft and U.S. Army Soldiers specialized in aerial delivery of U.S humanitarian assistance supplies.
U.S. C-130s dropped over 38,000 meals, providing life-saving humanitarian assistance in Northern Gaza, to enable civilian access to critical aid.
The DoD humanitarian airdrops contribute to ongoing U.S. and partner-nation government efforts to alleviate human suffering. These airdrops are part of a sustained effort and we continue to plan follow on aerial deliveries.
WATCH:
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JUST IN: The United States has dropped its first airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza as millions are facing starvation.
According to NBC News, three military C-130 planes dropped a total of 66 pallets with 38,000 meals.
Aid organizations however, say the airdrop is… pic.twitter.com/4YZ9i5KhbT
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 3, 2024
Daily Mail reported:
Three planes from Air Forces Central dropped 66 bundles containing about 38,000 meals into Gaza. The bundles were dropped in southwest Gaza, on the beach along the territory’s Mediterranean coast.
The airdrop was coordinated with the Royal Jordanian Air Force, which said it had two food airdrops Saturday in northern Gaza and has conducted several rounds in recent months.
A witness told AFP they followed one of the parachuted packages in hopes of getting a bag of flour, but the chute didn’t open and ‘fell down like a rocket on the roof of one of the houses.’
‘Ten minutes later I saw people transferring three martyrs and others injured, who were staying on the roof of the house where the aid packages fell,’ the 50-year-old man told AFP.
Three Biden administration officials said the planes dropped the military Meals Ready to Eat — shelf-stable meals that contain a day’s worth of calories in each sealed package — in locations that were thought would provide civilians with the greatest level of safety to access aid.
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