At least 13 Palestinians drowned on Monday off Gaza’s northern coast near Beit Lahia while trying to reach air-dropped parcels that fell into the sea, Arab media reported.
Footage obtained by CNN shows hundreds of Palestinians rushing to the humanitarian aid drop site and some rushing into the water as the aircraft dropped the parcels on the Gaza shore. One graphic scene shows civilians performing CPR on several emotionless bodies in a desperate attempt to resuscitate them.
Abu Mohammad, who witnessed the incident, said the aid was dropped far from the shore into the sea, after which several people “who can’t swim drowned” trying to retrieve it. He said:
There were strong currents and all the parachutes fell in the water. People want to eat and are hungry. I haven’t been able to receive anything. The youth can run and get these aid (drops), but for us it’s a different story. We call for the opening of the crossings in a proper fashion, but these humiliating methods are not acceptable.
Earlier this month, at least five people were killed and 10 others were injured when air-dropped aid packages fell on them in the Al-Shati camp west of Gaza City, according to journalists who travelled to the scene.
Human rights groups have repeatedly criticised the airdrops as an inefficient and humiliating way to deliver aid to Gazans, instead calling on Israeli authorities to lift controls on ground crossings into the enclave.
Hamas called on Western countries to stop airlifting aid to Gaza, warning that this method of delivering humanitarian aid is “insulting, wrong, inappropriate and useless.” Hamas has criticised the air landings from the beginning, calling them “useless” and “not the best way to deliver aid”.
According to a UN-backed report, severe Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip have depleted essential supplies, condemning the entire population of more than 2.2 million people to the risk of starvation. Humanitarian organisations including Oxfam and Human Rights Watch have warned that Israel is “using the starvation of civilians as a weapon of war in Gaza, which is a war crime”. Israel insists there are “no restrictions” on the amount of aid that can enter Gaza, but because of the screening regime, aid is barely trickling in.
