AhlulBayt News Agency: A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was martyred on Saturday when an aid box dropped from an aircraft struck him in central Gaza, marking the fourth fatal incident linked to aerial aid deliveries in less than a week.
Medical sources said the victim, identified as Muhannad Eid, was hit in the Al-Nuwairi area west of the Nuseirat refugee camp. He was rushed to Al-Awda Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Several others were injured, though the number remains unknown.
The latest tragedy comes amid a series of similar incidents since aerial drops began on July 16. Earlier Saturday, 20-year-old Adam al-Sharbasi died from injuries sustained the previous day when a falling aid box hit him in the Yarmouk area of central Gaza City.
On Monday, nurse Uday Nahid al-Qara’an, 33, was martyred when a box crashed onto his tent in al-Zawayda, while on Wednesday, 11-year-old Saeed Kamal Abu Yunis died in Khan Yunis under similar circumstances.
The practice, carried out by several countries as Gaza suffers famine under the Israeli blockade, has drawn sharp criticism from Palestinian officials and aid groups, who call it dangerous and ineffective compared to land-based deliveries.
Gaza’s Interior Ministry said the “negative effects” of parachute drops, including fatalities and chaos, outweigh any benefits, accusing Israel of exploiting the method “as part of a policy of starvation and chaos.”
Since March 2, Israel has closed all crossings into Gaza, blocking humanitarian aid and intensifying famine conditions despite hundreds of relief trucks waiting at the border.
The World Food Program warns that a third of Gaza’s population has gone days without food, while the UN says hundreds of aid trucks a day are needed to reverse the crisis caused by the blockade and genocide.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel, backed by the US, has waged a genocide in Gaza involving mass killings, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, defying international calls and International Court of Justice orders to stop.
The assault has killed or wounded 212,219 Palestinians, most of them children and women, left more than 9,000 missing, and driven hundreds of thousands out of their homes.
/129
Your Comment