Palestinians killed in food airdrops

Humanitarian airdrops into the Gaza Strip have killed civilians, in the latest tragedy for Palestinians since the war between Hamas and Israel began.

The US military’s Central Command, which oversees the Mideast, issued the statement on X, formerly Twitter, which said: ‘‘We are aware of reports of civilians killed as a result of humanitarian airdrops. We express sympathies to the families of those who were killed. Contrary to some reports, this was not the result of US airdrops.’’

The US didn’t identify the countries involved in the deaths.

The US military airdropped food on Friday from a US C-130, the equivalent of 11,500 meals donated by Jordan, into the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

Earlier, Palestinian officials said five people were killed and several others injured when the parachutes of airdrops failed to open, and hit people and landed on homes.

The US military, meanwhile, will deploy about 1000 troops to transport and build a floating pier on the Gaza shore in order to get critically needed food and aid delivered to citizens there.

Air Force Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters that it would take weeks for this to come together, but that the US is working as quickly as possible to get troops and equipment deployed and the pier constructed.

A widening humanitarian crisis across Gaza and tight Israeli control of aid trucks have left virtually the entire population desperately short of food, according to the United Nations. Officials have been warning for months that Israel’s siege and offensive were pushing the Palestinian territory into famine.

President Joe Biden’s growing frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to mount, with the Democrat captured on a hot mic saying that he and the Israeli leader would need to have a ‘‘come to Jesus meeting’’.

The comments by Biden came as he spoke with Senator Michael Bennet on the floor of the House chamber following Thursday night’s State of the Union address.

The president on Friday acknowledged the comments. Asked if he thought Netanyahu needs to be doing more to alleviate the humanitarian suffering, Biden responded, ‘‘Yes, he does.’’

Biden has become increasingly public about his frustration with the Netanyahu government’s unwillingness to open more land crossings for critically needed aid to make its way into Gaza.

Meanwhile, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said some of its employees released into Gaza from Israeli detention reported having been pressured by Israeli authorities into falsely stating that the agency has Hamas links.

The assertions are contained in a report by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which details allegations of mistreatment in Israeli detention made by Palestinians, including several working for UNRWA.

UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma said the agency planned to hand the information in the 11-page, unpublished report to agencies inside and outside the UN specialised in documenting potential human rights abuses.

Last week at the ASEAN summit, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged Australia to recommence funding UNRWA, which was paused in January when Israel claimed seven of UNRWA’s 13,000 Gaza employees crossed the border into Israel in the October 7 attack.

Reuters, AP