18 killed in Gaza while collecting airdropped aid

18 people have been killed while collecting airdropped aid in the war-torn Gaza Strip. Hamas, the armed political group that controls the valley, said in a statement that the tragedy occurred on Tuesday.

Witnesses said the aid was airdropped on Tuesday in northern Gaza near the Mediterranean coast. At that time, 12 people were killed when relief sacks fell on their heads and 6 others died after being trampled in haste while collecting relief.

In the statement, Hamas said, "A request to the international community, please stop dropping the relief bags from the planes." Instead, take steps to remove the obstacles in sending relief by road.'

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began operations there on October 7 after Hamas fighters ambushed Israeli territory. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the last six months of Israeli forces' operations, and about 74,000 others have been injured.

On the other hand, 1,200 Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack by Hamas fighters on October 7. Also, 240 people were taken hostage by Hamas fighters, 108 of them have been released so far.

A third of the population of the Gaza Strip, home to about 2.2 million people, is directly dependent on aid from the United Nations and other donor countries and groups. Since the beginning of the campaign in the valley, the Israeli forces have been blocking the delivery of relief supplies, resulting in a death march in Gaza since last February due to lack of food.

In this situation, the United States and its allies in the Western world announced air relief supplies to the Gaza Strip from that month.