A 15-YEAR-OLD Palestinian boy has been crushed to death by a falling pallet during an airdrop of humanitarian aid in Gaza, as global condemnation grows of Israel’s plan to take over the largest city in the war-torn enclave, where nearly a million people are sheltering.
Footage from Gaza, verified by Al Jazeera, shows several people gathering around the body of Muhannad Zakaria Eid on Saturday, near the so-called Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza, following the airdrop.
Some people try to resuscitate the boy, whose face appears bloodied.
Other footage shows the boy’s brother carrying him away from the site and his father clutching his body at al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat.
Eid’s brother told the Reuters news agency that the Palestinian boy was killed after an aid pallet fell on top of him.
“Despite the famine and the hard conditions that we live in, my brother went to get aid that was dropped into the sea by [aero]planes. A box fell on him directly and he was martyred,” he said.
“They [the countries involved in the airdrops] cannot enter the aid through the crossing but they drop them over us and kill our children. A kid was killed in [az-]Zawayda and here and there, and nobody feels us. God is sufficient for us, against them and their aid,” he added.
The latest death comes after the United Nations repeatedly warned that the airdrops are dangerous, inefficient and costly, and it called on Israel to allow a steady supply of humanitarian assistance into Gaza via land crossings instead.
The Gaza Government Media Office said at least 23 Palestinians have been killed and another 124 wounded in airdrops of aid since Israel’s war on the enclave began in October 2023.
“We have repeatedly warned of the danger of these inhumane methods and have repeatedly called for the entry of aid through land crossings in a safe and sufficient manner, especially food, infant milk, medicines, and medical supplies,” the office said in a statement.
Medical sources in Gaza, meanwhile, said that Israeli forces killed at least 47 people in attacks across the Strip on Saturday, including dozens who were waiting for aid.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Health said that at least five more Palestinians had starved to death in the previous 24-hour reporting period, including two children.
The latest toll brings the total number of deaths from malnutrition to 217, including 100 children, since the war began.
Most of those deaths have occurred in recent weeks, as Israel continues to impose severe restrictions on aid supplies entering Gaza after partially lifting a total blockade in late May.