Gaza genocide: Airdropped aid package kills Palestinian man
Gaza genocide: Airdropped aid package kills Palestinian man
An airdropped aid package has killed an elderly Palestinian man in the so-called humanitarian zone in southern Gaza.
Saber al-Zamili, 75, was inside a tent when the package fell directly on him on Sunday, according to his family.
He was preparing to head to the mosque for his daily prayers, his son Wael al-Zamili told Middle East Eye.
His daughter Sarah al-Zamili said his body was retrieved from beneath the package with severe injuries.
"His entire body was broken," she said through tears, adding that they rushed him to the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah.
He was later transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where he was pronounced dead.
"This is not a safe method of distributing aid - not the airdrops, not the American aid deliveries, nor the trucks," she told MEE, referring to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which employs a militarised distribution mechanism.
"This is cruelty against the Palestinian people. What they are doing to us is unjust… This is not a way to feed the Palestinian people; it’s a method of humiliation and oppression."
She stressed that proper aid distribution should be carried out through coordinated and secure efforts by recognised humanitarian organisations.
"None of what is being done is helping the Palestinian people. It is only deepening our suffering," she said.
“Dying from starvation is more honourable than dying like this.”
Endangering civilians
International organisations have repeatedly warned that airdropped aid can endanger civilians.
Despite this, the Israeli military announced in late July it would resume aerial deliveries to Gaza, in coordination with several regional and European countries.
Rights groups and humanitarian experts have criticised the method. They say it puts lives at risk, offers insufficient aid and lacks fair distribution.
Airdrops have also triggered deadly stampedes, as desperate crowds rush towards falling crates.
Rania al-Abed, a witness to the chaos, told MEE the current system, including GHF-run sites, is unorganised and chaotic.
She described scenes of overcrowding and panic at every aid drop.
“More than once, I’ve taken martyrs to the hospital,” she said. “I’m not going for food or water, just to remove the dead… What kind of life is this?”
Abed said she no longer seeks aid for herself. Instead, she focuses on helping others, and carrying the dead away from aid sites.
One of them was her own father. She found him by chance, killed at a distribution point. A bullet from Israeli shelling had struck his chest.
“How long must we live like this? How long must we suffer?” she asked.
“I swear to God, we are exhausted. I’ve lost my father, my mother, I’ve lost everything. I have nothing left. I’m only doing this for God.”
She said aid sites have become firing zones. Israeli forces shoot into crowds, even when there is clear distance between them and civilians.
“It’s injustice,” she said.
Israeli forces have killed nearly 2,000 Palestinians queueing up for food at GHF distribution sites since May, according to the health ministry.
At least 23 have died from airdropped aid and 124 more wounded.
Overall, Israeli forces have killed more than 62,000 and wounded over 156,000 since the genocide in Gaza began in October 2023.
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