Inside a U.S. airdrop mission to rush food into Gaza
CBSN
Over the Gaza Strip — A fatal airdrop mishap in northern Gaza on Friday overshadowed news of hundreds of other parcels being successfully dropped by several planes that took off from Jordan, just east of Israel. Jordan, Egypt, France, the Netherlands, Belgium and the U.S. have been delivering aid in this way as Israel faces mounting pressure to facilitate a significant increase in ground deliveries.
Officials from Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health and an eye witness told CBS News five people were killed when at least one aid parcel's parachute failed to properly deploy and a parcel fell on them. The victims were in the Al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza, and the incident occurred at around 11:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. Eastern).
CBS News was on board a U.S. military C-130 cargo plane as it took off from Jordan — the last of the day's missions to deliver aid to Gaza, and the first time a U.S. broadcaster has been aboard one of the flights. A U.S. defense official told CBS News Friday that an initial review indicated the American airdrop did not cause the casualties on the ground, but said further investigation was required.
