Five killed, several injured as parachute fails to open during aid drop in Gaza

Palestinians run along a street as humanitarian aid arrives in Gaza City. Pic/AFP

After a humanitarian airdrop's parachute failed to open, a pallet crashed into a group of civilians queuing for food north of Gaza City's Shati refugee camp, killing five and injuring several others on Friday, according to Al Jazeera.

Following the event on Friday, the Gaza government media office acknowledged the number of injuries, denouncing the "useless" airdrops as "flashy propaganda rather than humanitarian service" and advocating for the availability of food to pass through land borders.

"We previously warned it poses a threat to the lives of citizens in the Gaza Strip and this is what happened today when the parcels fell on the citizens' heads," it said in a statement.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported last month that at least half a million, or one in four people in Gaza, feared famine.

The killings took place as the enclave was gripped by a famine. It brought attention to the difficulty of delivering much-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza in the face of Israeli restrictions. The main UN organization in Gaza, UNRWA, claims that since January 23, Israeli authorities have forbidden them from transporting supplies to the northern part of the strip, Al Jazeera reported.

The World Food Programme stated that the military forced its first convoy to the north in two weeks to turn back on Tuesday.

The organization had suspended delivery in Gaza due to security concerns. As a result, several nations have carried out airdrops, notably Egypt, the United States, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates.

However, relief organizations have criticized these efforts as expensive and inefficient ways to provide food and medical supplies.

Meanwhile, according to the UN, if nothing is done, a widespread famine in the Gaza Strip is "almost inevitable."

Aid organizations attribute the scarcity of food in the enclave--which has been under Israeli siege and attack since October 7--to military activities, insecurity, and significant barriers to the transportation of necessary supplies, according to Al Jazeera.

The health officials in Gaza reported that over 30,000 people have died in the strip during the five-month conflict.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is preparing to commence historic hearings on the legality of Israel's 57-year occupation of Palestinian territories. Scheduled for a week at The Hague, the proceedings coincide with Israel's ongoing military offensive in Gaza, resulting in the death of over 29,000 Palestinians since October 7, Al Jazeera reported.

Distinct from the genocide complaint filed by South Africa against Israel for alleged violations in the current conflict, the ICJ hearings focus on Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem since 1967.

The Palestinians, seeking these areas for an independent state, argue that the occupation breaches three fundamental principles of international law, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Israel strongly denies committing genocide in Gaza. However, the ICJ, in January ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear South Africa's case against Israel, in which the latter is accused of breaching the Genocide Convention.

The court ordered Israel to do all it could to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but the panel of judges stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive that has laid waste to the Palestinian enclave.

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