At least 5 Palestinians killed in aid airdrop malfunction in NW Gaza

Gaza -- At least five Palestinians were killed on Friday and several others wounded in northwestern Gaza when they were hit by airdropped aid boxes with a parachute failing to open, Palestinian sources said.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza, said in a statement that the aid was dropped in an unprofessional and unprecedented manner on the heads and houses of residents in the northwest area of Gaza City.

No further details were provided, but eyewitnesses said the aid airdropped by aircraft over Gaza City fell freely without properly opening their parachutes.

Meanwhile, the media office of the Hamas-run government said in a press release that the airdrop operations were "ineffective and not the optimal method," calling for the immediate opening of land crossings to allow for aid delivery to the territory to prevent an imminent famine, especially in northern Gaza.

It added that people in Gaza suffer greatly from severe shortages of food, water, medicine, and shelters.

"As a result of the famine disaster, at least 20 people have died, and the number is likely to increase daily due to hunger, malnutrition, and drought," the statement said.

Several countries, including Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, France, the Netherlands, and the United States, have been conducting joint operations for about a week to drop food aid to the strip.

The coastal enclave, inhabited by about 2.35 million people, has been experiencing difficult humanitarian conditions since Oct 7, 2023, and international organizations have been warning of a famine.