Palestinian Child Who Survived Year of Israeli War on Gaza Killed by UAE

American network CNN shed light on the story of a Palestinian child who survived a year of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, only to be killed by the UAE when a box of aid fell on his head while he was sitting with his family.
The incident coincided with the UAE’s announcement of aerial aid drops in the same area, provoking outrage from the family of three-year-old Sami Iyad regarding the method of delivering the aid.
Sami’s grandfather told CNN that the family was having breakfast when the wooden pallets fell from the planes and veered toward the displacement area. Iyad recalled that many family members attempted to hide inside their tents, but the falling package instantly killed the three-year-old boy.
Iyad added that Sami’s aunt and cousin were also injured in their feet and face, respectively.
“I was sitting here with the boy, and the moment I left him… the package fell on him. There was only a second between us. I carried him and began to run,” Iyad said.
He continued, “We have no hospitals. I ran desperately, but the boy died instantly. I couldn’t save him, and blood started coming from his nose and mouth.”
Iyad expressed his profound outrage at the method of aid delivery, stating, “We don’t want aid; we want dignity… Enough of the humiliation and insults we receive from the Arabs, not just the Israelis, who show us no mercy. Look at our children, our women, and our elders.”
He added, “We are human beings, not animals to have food dropped on us from the sky.”
Several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, have conducted air drops of aid to Gaza.
Sami’s uncle, Muhammad Iyad, told CNN: ‘Our lives… are filled with humiliation, death, and fear. I go to sleep at night not knowing if I will wake up.’
As part of the UAE’s ‘Birds of Goodness’ campaign, the Emirates dropped 81 food packages in Khan Younis on Saturday, according to the Israeli agency that oversees the flow of aid to Gaza.
CNN reported that it broadcast footage from the displacement camp in Khan Younis on Saturday showing aid boxes labeled with the UAE flag.
According to a UN-backed report, ongoing Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip have depleted vital supplies, putting the entire population of over 2.2 million people at risk of famine.
Around 1.84 million Palestinians are facing high levels of acute food insecurity, as reported on Thursday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which evaluates food insecurity and malnutrition globally.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly condemned air drops as an ineffective method for delivering aid to Palestinians in Gaza, urging Israeli authorities to instead lift restrictions on the land crossings leading into the region.
Previous air drops of aid have resulted in fatalities among those hoping to receive food.
Fekr Shaltout, the director of the Palestinian Medical Relief Organization branch in Gaza, accused the Israeli government of ‘using starvation as a weapon of war throughout Gaza.’
The network quoted Shaltout as stating: ‘For a three-year-old child to survive over a year of Israeli military attacks, which UN experts and the International Court of Justice have described as potential genocide, only to be killed by an air drop of food is a complete mockery.’
Sami’s father, Mahmoud Iyad, expressed that his ‘dignity’ has been ‘erased.’ Relief agencies have warned that air drops are a humiliating way to distribute aid, calling on Israel to lift the border restrictions on Gaza.
The child’s father remarked: ‘I don’t want aid. My son is gone. He was standing there asking me to look at the parachutes. He ran when he saw them coming towards him.’ He added, ‘There was an airstrike on the people here, and he survived, but his fate was death by parachute.’
The Israeli military campaign in Gaza has resulted in the destruction of residential neighborhoods, the obliteration of entire families, and has caused a severe hunger crisis, widespread displacement, and disease.
In March, an investigation by an intelligence platform confirmed the UAE’s involvement in the deaths of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip due to failed air drop operations.
The investigative platform ‘Eikad’ disclosed that the UAE was responsible for the unsuccessful air drop of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which led to casualties and injuries
The platform stated that through analyzing footage documenting the drops in Gaza on March 8 and 9, as well as navigation data, it was able to identify the aircraft involved on those days. Several countries conducted a new air drop in northern Gaza, but some boxes fell without their parachutes opening, crashing down forcefully onto civilians, resulting in multiple casualties.
It noted that it documented the air drops on March 8, which led to the death of five people, referencing a video posted by journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul on his Instagram account.
By closely examining the shape of the aircraft depicted, it was identified by its tail and propellers as a Boeing C-17 Globemaster, indicating that this aircraft type is utilized by the UAE for air drop operations in Gaza, with the United States also using the same model.
To verify the aircraft’s identity, the platform analyzed air traffic over northern Gaza and tracked the flight of the Emirati aircraft with registration number 1225 on March 8, near the site where the drop footage was recorded in the Al-Shati refugee camp.
‘Eikad’ stated that through analyzing the aircraft’s shape and cross-referencing it with navigational data, it was confirmed that the aircraft is indeed the Emirati C-17.
It was also revealed that the air drop conducted on March 9 over Yarmouk Stadium in western Gaza involved an aircraft of the C-130 model, which is utilized by several countries, including Egypt, Jordan, the United States, and Belgium.
Upon examining the color of the aircraft, the platform noted that it was light-colored, which is typical for Egyptian and Jordanian planes. Investigating the navigational data of aircraft that passed near Yarmouk Stadium on March 9 revealed no involvement of a Jordanian aircraft; instead, it identified an Egyptian aircraft with registration number SU-BAE conducting an air drop over Gaza, without showing its flight path.
On Friday, March 8, 2024, the Palestinian Civil Defense announced that five people were killed and others injured due to the ‘misguided’ air drops of civilian aircraft in northwestern Gaza.