A medic at one of Gaza’s largest hospitals on Friday (March 8) said that an airdrop of aid into the north of the besieged Palestinian enclave claimed the lives of five people and injured 10 others.
The casualties were immediately rushed to Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, said the emergency room’s head nurse, Mohammed al-Sheikh.
Sheikh said that the incident took place at the north of the coastal Al-Shati refugee camp.
A witness from the camp said that he along with his brother followed the parachuted aid hoping to get “a bag of flour”.
“Then, all of a sudden, the parachute didn’t open and fell down like a rocket on the roof of one of the houses,” said Mohammed al-Ghoul.
“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 told news agency AFP.
The government media office in Hamas-run Gaza, referring to the ones who died on Friday, said that the airdrops were “futile” and “not the best way for aid to enter.”
The United States and Jordan are among the countries that have carried out airdrops in northern Gaza.
The situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave is dire, with over 2.3 million people displaced due to the ongoing Israeli offensive. There are also reports of people dying of malnutrition.
US military carried out fourth humanitarian airdrop into war-torn Gaza on Friday, said a US official on condition of anonymity, according to Reuters.
US to build temporary Gaza aid port
Meanwhile, United States President Joe Biden on Thursday said that he was directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to set up a “temporary pier” on the Gaza coast to receive ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters.
“No US boots will be on the ground,” Biden added.
Washington is set to collaborate with European and regional partners and allies in order to build an international coalition of countries that would contribute capabilities and funds, said the officials.
An Israeli official said Israel “fully supports the deployment of a temporary dock” on Gaza’s coast and the operation would be carried out “with full coordination between the two parties.”
(With inputs from agencies)
