Israel to allow Gaza aid from foreign countries dropped in parachutes

Israel is set to permit parachute aid deliveries to the blockaded Gaza Strip.

People in Gaza have been gripped by hunger and disease during Israel’s military offensive following the October 7 Hamas attacks.

As images of skeletal children and desperate parents have emerged, the World Health Organisation has warned of ‘man-made mass starvation,’ which Israel has denied.

Now the IDF, the Israeli military, is reportedly allowing foreign aid to be dropped into Gaza on parachutes.

A senior IDF official told Sky News: ‘Starting today, Israel will allow foreign countries to parachute aid into Gaza.

‘Starting this afternoon, the WCK organisation began reactivating its kitchens.’

The WCK, the World Central Kitchen aid charity, was one of many organisations forced to pull out of Gaza after its workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike last year.

One in five children in Gaza City is suffering from malnourishment, according to the UN aid agency.

At least 32 Palestinians trying to get food from distribution hubs have been killed by Israeli soldiers, Gaza’s health ministry has said.

Witnesses of a recent incident accused the troops of firing at the crowd ‘indiscriminately.’

Israel blocked food deliveries to Gaza in March, which led to the death of more than 100 people from starvation, the territory’s health ministry said.

The aid blockade was lifted in May, but with limitations to prevent supplies from ending up in the hands of Hamas militants, Israel said.

In the first two weeks of July, UNICEF treated around 5,000 children at risk of acute malnutrition in Gaza, the UN children’s organisation said.

The UK has previously taken part in international efforts to get food to Palestinian civilians.

In March last year, the RAF airdropped aid packages of water, rice, cooking oil, flour, tinned goods and baby formula.

Volunteers from the UK working in the Palestinian territory have reported escalating levels of suffering in Gaza.

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Sam Sears, a paramedic volunteer with UK-Med, said they are seeing ‘lots of patients in the local area coming in with blast injuries, shrapnel wounds, gunshot wounds, poly trauma and we are also seeing a lot of malnourished, dehydrated patients.’

Metro has approached the UK Foreign Office and the IDF for a comment.

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