![Humanitarian aid packages dropped from planes are seen landing by parachute at Al-Mawasi area as Israeli attacks continue in Khan Yunis, Gaza on October 17, 2024. [Abed Rahim Khatib - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AA-20241017-35934600-35934587-PLANES_AIRDROP_HUMANITARIAN_AID_IN_GAZA_AMID_ISRAELI_ATTACKS.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Aircraft, on Thursday, conducted the first humanitarian aid airdrop since mid-July over the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, which has been enduring continuous Israeli attacks for over a year, Anadolu Agency reports.
Witnesses reported that unidentified planes dropped relief supplies via parachutes over the coastal town of Al-Qarara, west of Khan Yunis.
However, a “technical malfunction” caused aid boxes to fall onto tents housing displaced persons, resulting in casualties and destruction, the witnesses said.
A medical source told Anadolu that one elderly person was killed and others were injured in the incident.
Israel has imposed severe restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, particularly by land, creating shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
These shortages have led to widespread hunger, which has claimed the lives of many children and the elderly.
READ: Gaza hospitals say food, medicines running out amid ongoing Israeli offensive
Palestinians and international human rights organisations accuse Israel of using starvation as a weapon in Gaza, which they say amounts to a war crime.
The UN has called on Israel to open land crossings to allow critical humanitarian aid into the Territory before the worsening crisis claims more lives.
Since 2006, Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza, turning the region into what many describe as the world’s largest open-air prison.
Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on 7 October last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
More than 42,400 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 99,100 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
READ: Israel stops processing key commercial food imports to Gaza, sources say