A tragic incident occurred in the Al Shati camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday when airdropped aid packages led to the deaths of at least five people and injuries to 10 others. Khader Al Zaanoun, a journalist on the scene, witnessed the aid packages falling from planes but could not confirm which nation was behind the air drop.
Muhammad Al-Sheikh, Head of Emergency Care Department at Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, confirmed the death toll and noted that some of the injured individuals are in serious condition. In a video obtained by CNN, a malfunctioning parachute on a pallet caused the aid to fall at a high speed towards a residential building, leading to a tragic outcome.
Separately, footage showed another air drop in the Al-Suddaniya area near Beit Lahia, with people heard screaming as the parachutes descended. The US and other countries have been conducting air drops of humanitarian aid into Gaza in response to warnings from the United Nations about the dire humanitarian situation in the region.
Despite these efforts, aid agencies have criticized the airdrops as ineffective given the scale of the need in Gaza. Some Palestinians in northern Gaza have expressed frustration with the aid parcels, noting that they lack essential food supplies and are often difficult to access due to competition among recipients.