The campaign to deliver humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian territory via air has reportedly led to multiple casualties and fatalities.
A recent consignment of humanitarian aid air-dropped into Gaza reportedly impacted directly on a camp sheltering displaced Palestinians, destroying several tents, according to footage circulating online. Human rights organizations have criticized this high-risk method, stressing it should only be employed as a final option.
The video, said to have been captured on Thursday, shows aid pallets descending by parachute onto a coastal area of the Palestinian enclave after being released by a military transport aircraft off-screen.
Several packages are seen colliding mid-air, their parachutes becoming tangled, causing the pallets to plummet to the ground.
The bundles land in a heavily damaged urban zone that has been repurposed as a refugee camp, directly hitting multiple tents as Palestinians rush to gather the provisions, the footage reveals.
Another graphic, reportedly captured in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, purportedly illustrates the death of at least one civilian during an aid drop. Footage depicts a bloodied teenager being carried away from the scene; the victim reportedly succumbed to their injuries shortly thereafter. It was not immediately clear whether they were crushed by the airdrop or trampled by the crowds.
Israel authorized air drops into Gaza in late July, following months of a tight blockade on the Palestinian territory. The international effort to deliver supplies has been plagued by various incidents, with civilians reportedly crushed by aid, killed in crowd surges, and drowning while attempting to retrieve supplies that landed in the sea. According to local health authorities, civilians also came under small arms and artillery fire in several instances when supplies ended up close to Israeli positions.
The air drop initiative has drawn criticism from human rights groups, who argue that this hazardous practice should be a last-resort option rather than a routine means of aid delivery. Activists noted that a cargo plane can transport only about half the supplies that can fit into a single flatbed truck, urging Israel to open land routes into the enclave.
“While we welcome any effort to get aid to desperate civilians in Gaza, we know that airdrops are very expensive, often ineffective, and not sustainable,” stated Katy Crosby, senior director for policy and advocacy for Mercy Corps, an international aid organization.