A Palestinian teenager, identified by local health officials as Muhannad Zakaria Eid, was fatally struck on 9 August by an aid package that parachuted into the area west of the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The boy died at the scene, marking the latest casualty attributed to the airdrop campaign intended to ease severe shortages of food and medicine in the enclave. Gaza’s Health Ministry said Eid is at least the 23rd person killed by falling pallets or other incidents connected to aid drops since they began earlier this year. The ministry also reported five additional deaths from starvation over the previous 24 hours, bringing the toll from hunger and malnutrition since the war erupted in October 2023 to 217, of whom 100 were children. International aid agencies and Palestinian officials argue that parachute deliveries are both inefficient and dangerous, noting that far larger volumes of relief could reach civilians safely if Israel lifted restrictions on over-land truck convoys. They have renewed calls for secure land corridors, warning that the combination of restricted access, mounting malnutrition and lethal airdrop mishaps is worsening Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.