“People are dying for a can of tuna,” said a resident of the northern Gaza Strip, who rushed with many other Gazans to collect parachuted humanitarian aid. On March 25, the Hamas Ministry of Health announced the death of twelve people, drowned while trying to recover packages dropped at sea. Six others died in stampedes. Hamas authorities called for these operations to immediately cease and land access to be opened.
Airdrops are one of the few ways to deliver food to the inhabitants of this small territory plunged into a serious humanitarian crisis. On March 8, five people were killed and ten others injured by falling packages, which fell “like rockets” on the al-Shati refugee camp, when the parachute did not open, witnesses said. and hospital sources.
Read alsoGaza: five people killed by a humanitarian aid drop
In total, the Israeli government agency Cogat recorded 44 airdrops, or 2,000 loads. US Air Force Lt. Col. Jeremy Anderson acknowledged earlier this month that the aid his crew was able to drop was a "drop in the bucket" by compared to what was needed to feed the millions of people trapped in the enclave.