In the Gaza Strip, 12 people drown in the sea while trying to pick up humanitarian aid items dropped by plane | World

Palestinians drown while trying to catch food thrown into the sea, says Hamas

Twelve people drowned in the sea near the Gaza Strip while trying to collect humanitarian aid items that were dropped from a plane, Palestinian health authorities said on Tuesday (26). The terrorist group Hamas controls health entities in the territory.

The United States Armed Forces, which are responsible for the operation, stated that 3 of the 18 boxes that were delivered by air had problems with the parachute and fell into the water, but did not give any information about deaths.

There have been several incidents involving the delivery of humanitarian aid items to people in the Gaza Strip by air. At the beginning of March, five people died in the same way, according to the territory’s health authorities.

The US chose to throw boxes out of planes because there are difficulties in bringing trucks into the Gaza Strip –Israel is at war with the terrorist group Hamas and controls the entry of vehicles into the territory. According to the Reuters agency, in the Gaza Strip there are people eating grass and mixing animal feed with bread to eat.

Aid agencies say the amount of items entering the Gaza Strip is equivalent to about a fifth of what is needed.

Air deliveries are not sufficient, and items must be transported by land, across the border with Israel or Egypt.

A video of the aerial delivery was obtained by the Reuters news agency. The images show a crowd of people running towards the beach in the north of the Gaza Strip. The boxes with parachutes fell into the sea, and people go to very deep points to try to reach them.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Israel to commit to the entry of humanitarian aid items into the Gaza Strip. He stated that the number of trucks stopped at the border is morally outrageous.

Israel claims that it does not impose limits on the quantity of humanitarian aid items entering Palestinian territory and claims that the blame for the logistical problems lies with UN agencies, which, according to the Israelis, are not efficient.

The distribution of humanitarian aid items in the Gaza Strip is especially problematic in the north of the territory. Last month, health authorities in the Gaza Strip (which are controlled by the terrorist group Hamas) said the Israeli military killed more than 100 people trying to take items from a convoy of trucks.

The Israeli Armed Forces denied that this happened, and said that the people who died were trampled by the crowd or run over by their own trucks.

The Israeli government blamed UNRWA, the UN agency for refugees in the Gaza Strip. The Israelis claim that this entity is an accomplice of Hamas.

UNRWA denies being an accomplice of Hamas. There is an ongoing investigation into the relationship between Hamas and the agency.