Air drop off Gaza leads to drownings, authorities say
STORY: A sight of hope for Palestinians as aid drops from the sky, amid growing fears of famine nearly six months into Israel's military campaign.
But the drop creates a new danger. Palestinian health authorities said on Tuesday (March 26) twelve people died attempting to reach these vital supplies.
In this video obtained by Reuters, people in Beit Lahia in north Gaza can be seen up to their necks in water, trying to retrieve boxes.
The desperation turns to despair as lifeless bodies are seen dragged onto the sand.
It is the latest in a string of incidents involving deaths during aid deliveries in the tiny, crowded Palestinian enclave.
Some are foraging for weeds to eat, or baking barely edible bread from animal feed.
“In terms of the aid, one of the biggest mistakes is that they are thrown in dangerous places, like the sea because it leads to drowning for those going to get the aid. Our problem is simple, they can do it through the land crossings so it can reach these poor people. They can also do the aircraft airdrops through areas which are wide and big, and let the police control the aid and deliver it to the people.”
Aid agencies say about a fifth of required supplies are entering Gaza as Israel plows on with an air and ground offensive, triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.
They say deliveries by air or sea directly onto Hamas-run Gaza's beaches are no substitute for increased supplies coming in by land via Israel or Egypt.
This Palestinian man says the aid drops in the sea are a humiliation and not the correct way to work.
He says he'd rather smaller amounts of aid arrived than trying to retrieve it from the water.
The United Nations has urged Israel to allow unfettered aid access into the Gaza Strip, describing trucks blocked at the border as a ''moral outrage".
Israel says it puts no limit on the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza and blames problems in it reaching civilians within the enclave on U.N. agencies, which it says are inefficient.
