GAZA, (PIC)
The Government Media Office (GMO) said that 18 Palestinian citizens were killed due to wrong airdrops of aid over the Gaza Strip during the past hours, holding the US administration and the Israeli occupation regime responsible for these deaths.
In a statement on Tuesday, GMO said that 12 of those victims drowned off the shores of northern Gaza and six others were killed in stampedes as they were trying to collect aid airdropped into the sea and other areas.
GMO affirmed that airdropping aid in such a manner pose a real threat to the lives of hungry Palestinians in Gaza.
“We have warned all the countries that carry out aid airdrops of using such unsafe and incorrect procedures because part of their aid is dropped into the sea and other parts are either dropped into 1948 occupied Palestinian territories or into dangerous areas, which exposes the lives of hungry citizens to extreme danger,” GMO said.
GMO called for stopping the delivery of aid by air, describing it as wrong, inappropriate and useless and calling for opening Gaza’s land crossing in order to provide aid more effectively for the citizens suffering from starvation and malnutrition.
In a related context, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called on the world to find appropriate mechanisms to deliver aid to the northern Gaza Strip to ensure that citizens cover their needs and their lives are preserved.
Euro-Med criticized in a press release on Tuesday the systematic deaths caused by the dropping of essential supplies from airplanes or during trucks’ entry into delivery points without adequate protection.
Euro-Med noted that at least 12 Palestinians were drowned off the shores of Gaza on Monday after getting caught in the ropes of parachutes carrying aid packages.
Euro-Med warned that many deaths and injuries had been recorded as a result of stampedes, as hunger pushes residents to scramble to get aid packages to feed their starving children and families.
Euro-Med also denounced the attacks conducted by the Israeli army against civilians waiting for aid deliveries and against those charged with organizing aid distributions.
Euro-Med warned that such a situation indicates that there is a systematic policy to starve hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and deprive them of safe access to aid.
