Five killed in Gaza aid drop parachute failure - reports

An eyewitness and the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the five were killed when at least one parachute failed to deploy. It is unclear which air drop was involved in the incident. US, Jordan, Egypt, France, the Netherlands and Belgium have been dropping aid into Gaza in recent days. Joint air drop of aid into Gaza with the Royal Jordanian Air Force happened at about 13:30 local time.

UN says a quarter of Gaza’s 2. 3m population is on the brink of famine and children are starving to death. US Gen Patrick Ryder said its air drop was not involved in the incident. Aid organisations have been critical of the air drops, saying they were a last resort and incapable of meeting the soaring need.

On Friday the EU, UK, US and others said they planned to open a sea route to Gaza to deliver aid. We do not know if this footage captures the incident in which people were reportedly killed. Western countries have pressed Israel to expand delivery of aid by road. The US has said it will construct a temporary harbour to ship aid directly into Gaza.

Israel denies impeding the entry of aid to Gaza and accuses aid organisations of failing to distribute it. UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: “We continue to urge Israel to allow more trucks into Gaza” An estimated 300,000 Palestinians are living there with little food or clean water. Last week more than 100 people were killed trying to reach a ground aid convoy. Palestinians said most were shot by Israeli troops.

The Israeli military said its troops did not fire at Palestinians around an aid convoy but at suspects nearby who they deemed a threat.

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