Amid rare aid deliveries in Gaza, two NGOs have organised aid deliveries by sea, with their second mission in just over two weeks setting sail from Cyprus on Saturday.
Israel-Gaza War: An aid delivery in besieged north Gaza turned deadly on Saturday as Gazans scampered to collect the much-needed assistance resulting in a stampede. Amidst the chaos, gunshots were fired in which five people were killed and dozens injured, a Red Crescent paramedic said.
News agency AFP quoting a Red Crescent paramedic at a nearby hospital reported that five people were killed and dozens injured by gunfire and a stampede during a rare aid distribution in north Gaza.
Quoting witnesses, the AFP report said that shots were fired both by Gazans overseeing the aid delivery and Israeli troops nearby, causing panic amongst the lorry drivers who drove away from the scene in a hurry, hitting people trying to get the food.
Aircraft dropped humanitarian aid in the areas of the Al-Shati, Sudaniya and Al-Waha refugee camps in northern Gaza.
Cameras captured footage of the stampede that formed after Palestinians began flocking to the region in the hope of receiving humanitarian aid. pic.twitter.com/6vazBS5YBm
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The Israeli military told AFP it had “no record of the incident described”.
Amid rare aid deliveries in Gaza, two NGOs have organised aid deliveries by sea, with their second mission in just over two weeks setting sail from Cyprus on Saturday.
Organisers said the flotilla, which had been repeatedly delayed by bad weather, was carrying around 400 tonnes of supplies, a fraction of Gaza’s needs.
Foreign powers have ramped up airdrops of aid but several people have been killed by falling crates, or stampedes or drowned trying to retrieve packages from the Mediterranean, AFP reported.
Israel’s siege, sparked by a deadly militant attack on October 7, brings nightly air strikes and in recent days major operations around several hospitals, which it says are used by Palestinian militant groups — claims denied by Hamas.
The World Health Organization warned that Gaza had just 10 “minimally functioning” hospitals for its more than two million people, with its chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying around 9,000 patients urgently needed treatment abroad.
UN agencies have warned repeatedly that northern Gaza is on the verge of famine and called it a man-made crisis because aid lorries are backed up on the Egypt-Gaza border awaiting long checks by Israeli officials. Israel has denied responsibility.
The top UN court has ordered Israel to allow in aid and the UN Security Council has adopted a resolution demanding an “immediate ceasefire” but neither has affected the situation on the ground.
Israel and Hamas have been unable to agree a truce in indirect talks in Qatar, with each side blaming the other.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the go-ahead Friday for a new round of talks with negotiators expected to resume their work on Monday.
(With AFP inputs)