A scramble for aid turned into a deadly stampede and gunfire in Gaza on Monday, as scores of Palestinians were killed or wounded while chasing food amid a relentless Israeli siege that has choked the enclave and dragged it to the brink of famine nearly 22 months into the war.
Parachutes bring hope and chaos
In the skies over central Gaza, aid pallets parachuted down over the town of Zuweida. On the ground, hundreds of men – many of them gaunt, barefoot and desperate – raced to catch the falling packages. Cheers broke out as the aid descended.
But the joy quickly unraveled into chaos. Fights erupted, batons were raised, and one package crashed into a tent, injuring a displaced man who was rushed to the hospital.
Rabah Rabah, standing amid the crowd, shook his head in disbelief. “I wish they would deliver it through the crossings,” he said. “This is inhuman.”
