Five people were killed by a falling aid package when its parachute failed to deploy on Friday, Gazan health officials and an eyewitness told CBS News.
The Gazans were reportedly sheltering at the Al-Shati refugee camp on the northern coast of the Gaza Strip. Two boys were among the five killed, and 11 others were injured by the falling package, CBS News reported.
Social media video posted on Friday appeared to show one package plummeting faster than the others with what looks like a closed parachute. Emergency packages fell over Gaza on Friday as part of a coordinated effort by the U.S., Jordan, Egypt, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands to address the Gaza Strip’s dire aid crisis.
ADVERTISEMENT
The U.S. Department of Defense refuted claims that malfunctioning U.S. aid drops had killed the refugees.
“We’ve confirmed that all of our aid bundles landed safely on the ground,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, told reporters during a briefing on Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Gaza grows increasingly desperate. Despite mounting pressure from the international community, Israel still refuses to let aid into the besieged region as it attempts to snuff out Hamas militants.
Some experts say the region is perilously close to famine. U.N. officials have repeatedly warned that air drops and a U.S.-proposed temporary port to deliver aid by sea are insufficient to meet the needs of an estimated 2 million people.
“I cannot but repeat—air and sea is not a substitute for land, and nobody says otherwise,” Sigrid Kaag, the U.N.’s humanitarian and development coordinator for Gaza, said Friday.
