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Sky News
6 hours ago
- Sky News
Tangled parachutes and chaotic crowds: The dangers posed by airdrops in Gaza
Why you can trust Sky News Five days before he was killed by a falling aid package, father-of-two Uday al Qaraan called on world leaders to open Gaza's borders to food - and criticised the use of airdrops. "This isn't aid delivery," said the 32-year-old medic as a crowd of children rummaged through the remains of an airdrop behind him. "This is humiliation." Using footage from social media, satellite imagery, eyewitness testimony and flight tracking data, Sky News has examined the dangers posed by airdrops - and just how little difference they are making to Gaza's hunger crisis. A tangled parachute and a crowd in chaos Based on six videos of the airdrop that killed Uday, we were able to locate the incident to a tent camp on the coast of central Gaza. We determined that the drop occurred at approximately 11.50am on 4 August, based on metadata from these videos shared by three eyewitnesses. Flight tracking data shows that only one aid plane, a UAE Armed Forces C-130 Hercules, was in the area at that time. Footage from the ground shows 12 pallets falling from the plane. The four lowest parachutes soon become tangled, and begin to fall in pairs. As a crowd surges towards the landing zone, a gunshot rings out. Nine more follow over a 90-second period. Sakhr al Qaraan, an eyewitness and Uday's neighbour, says that Uday was among those running after the first pallet to land. "He didn't see the other pallet it was tangled up with, and it fell on him moments later," says Sakhr. "People ran to collect the aid in cold blood, devoid of humanity, and he suffocated under that damned blanket - under the feet of people who had lost all humanity." The scene descended into chaos as Palestinians, some armed, tussled over the limited food available. By the time Uday was pulled from the crowd and rushed to hospital, it was too late. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment. Parachutes failed in half of airdrops analysed This was not the first time that airdrops at this location had posed a threat to those on the ground. The day before Uday was killed, the same plane had dropped aid over the site. The footage below, shared by the UAE Armed Forces, shows the view from inside the plane. Just before the footage ends, it shows that one of the parachutes was broken. Hisham al Armi recorded the scene from the ground. His video shows the broken parachute, as well as another that had failed completely. Military planes dropped aid at the site on eight consecutive days between 30 July and 6 August. Sky News verified footage showing parachute failures during four of those eight airdrops. Flight tracking data shows that almost all of the 67 aid flights over that period followed a similar route along the coast, which is densely packed with tent camps. An Israel Defence Forces (IDF) official told Sky News that the airdrops are routed along the coast, because this is where much of Gaza's population is now concentrated. An IDF spokesperson added the Israeli military "takes all possible measures to mitigate the harm to uninvolved civilians". Hisham al Armi told Sky News he is grateful to the countries that donated the aid, but "the negatives outweigh the positives". "Fighting occurs when aid is dropped, and some people are killed ... due to the crush and parachutes." Other dangers are also posed by the airdrops. The footage below, taken on 29 July, shows Palestinians venturing into the sea in order to chase aid that had drifted over the water. The IDF has banned Palestinians from entering the sea. One woman, a relative of Uday who witnessed his death, described the airdrops as the "airborne humiliation of the people". "There is not enough aid for them," she said. "It creates problems among the people, and some are killed just to obtain a little aid. And most people don't receive any aid, they remain hungry for days." Between 27 July and 1 August, Gaza received an estimated 1,505 tonnes of food aid per day via land routes - 533 tonnes short of what the UN's food security agency says is needed to meet basic needs. Based on flight tracking data, we estimated that airdrops added just 38 tonnes daily, 7% of the shortfall. "The quantities involved are minuscule in terms of the scale of the need," says Sam Rose, Gaza director of UNRWA, the UN agency previously responsible for distributing food in the territory. UNRWA claims it has enough food stationed outside of Gaza to feed the population for three months, but that Israel has not allowed the agency to bring in any food since 2 March. "We should be dealing with that rather than introducing something else which is costly, dangerous, undignified and somehow legitimises ... the access regime by suggesting that we found a way round it through airdrops," Rose says. COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for coordinating aid deliveries, referred Sky News to a statement in which it said there is "no limit on the amount of aid" allowed into Gaza. An IDF spokesperson also denied restricting aid, and said the Israeli military "will continue to work in order to improve the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, along with the international community". In his interview five days before he was killed, Uday al Qaraan appealed to world leaders to open Gaza's borders. "What would happen if they just let the aid in?" he asked. "If you can fly planes and drop aid from the sky then you can break the siege, you can open a land crossing."
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
UK arrests 280 in crackdown on illegal delivery riders
LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters) - British authorities arrested almost one in five people they checked in a week-long crackdown on migrants working illegally as delivery riders last month, the government's interior ministry said on Saturday. Immigration enforcement officers stopped and questioned 1,780 individuals between July 20 and 27 and 280 people were arrested, the interior ministry said, adding asylum support was being reviewed for 53 of those detained. The operation was part of a push by the government to tackle illegal migration which also includes new legal requirements for companies to verify workers' immigration status. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing pressure to show voters he can counter illegal immigration with support rising for Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage's Reform UK party. "This government is making sure rules are respected and enforced," border security minister Angela Eagle said. As well as the arrests, civil penalty notices were issued to 51 businesses, including car washes and restaurants, which could face fines for employing illegal workers, the ministry said. Police seized 71 vehicles, including 58 e-bikes, and confiscated 8,000 pounds ($10,751.20) in cash and 460,000 pounds worth of illicit cigarettes. The interior ministry said immigration enforcement teams would receive a 5 million-pound funding boost for the work tackling illegal working. Last month, the government struck a new deal with food delivery firms, including Deliveroo (ROO.L), opens new tab, Uber Eats (UBER.N), opens new tab and Just Eat ( opens new tab, to share information aimed at preventing illegal working. In the 12 months to July, Britain returned 35,052 people with no right to remain, up 13% on the previous 12 months. France this week agreed to accept some undocumented migrants who arrive in Britain by small boats with Britain accepting from France an equal number of legitimate asylum seekers with family ties in the country. ($1 = 0.7441 pounds)
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Telegraph
‘Black widow' who fatally poisoned 11 elderly husbands for inheritance faces execution
A woman who poisoned 11 husbands to death over a 22-year period is facing execution in Iran. Kolsum Akbari, 56, systematically married elderly men before murdering them with diabetes drugs and industrial alcohol to inherit their property and dowries. The killings went undetected for more than two decades because victims appeared to die of natural causes due to their advanced age and existing health conditions. Akbari confessed to the killings and she is awaiting sentencing, with victims' family members calling for her execution. The killings began in 2000 and continued until 2023, when the death of her final victim, 82-year-old Gholamreza Babaei, led to her arrest. Babaei's son became suspicious after a family friend revealed his own father had previously been married to a woman named Kolsum who had tried to poison him. The family recognised her as Babaei's most recent wife and contacted police. During interrogation, Akbari confessed to the murders, though she gave conflicting accounts on the number of victims. Unsuccessful union 'I don't know how many I killed. Maybe it was 13 or 15 people. I don't remember exactly,' she said. She first married at the age of 18 in what relatives described as a brief and unsuccessful union with a man suffering from mental health problems. Her second marriage was to a much older man with children from a previous marriage. She lived with him in a northern village for years while reportedly suffering repeated beatings from her husband and stepsons. After his death, Akbari would attend women's gatherings and express interest in marrying elderly, lonely men. She would gain access to potential victims through their daughters' acquaintances and after confirming their financial status, she would agree to marriage with high dowries. She then gradually poisoned victims with combinations of blood pressure medications, diabetes drugs, sedatives and in some cases industrial alcohol. When drugs alone proved insufficient, she would suffocate victims with pillows and towels. The murders happened across multiple cities in northern Mazandaran province, including Sari, Neka, Mahmoudabad, Babol and Qaemshahr. Geographic distribution The geographic distribution helped prevent authorities from connecting the deaths for years. Among the confirmed victims were Mirahmad Omrani, 69, who died a month after their marriage in 2013, Esmail Bakhshi, 62, who died two months after their 2016 wedding, and Ganjali Hamzei, 83, who died 43 days after marrying. One man, Masih Nemati, survived Akbari's poisoning attempt in 2020 after drinking contaminated syrup. He expelled her from his home but did not file a police complaint. At Wednesday's hearing in the Sari Revolutionary Court, families of four victims demanded Akbari's execution under the Islamic law. The case involves more than 45 plaintiffs, including direct heirs and relatives of dead family members. Akbari initially denied the charges but confessed to the killings when crime scene reconstruction footage was played in court. Her lawyer argued for a mental health evaluation, but plaintiffs rejected the claim. Property and dowries 'Such a skilful plan that deceived many prominent families cannot be the work of an insane person,' one family member said, mentioning the sophisticated drug combinations and careful planning involved. The indictment includes 11 counts of premeditated murder and one count of attempted murder. Akbari typically transferred inherited property and dowries to her daughter's name, prosecutors said. The case has become a cultural phenomenon in Iran, spawning jokes among couples and inspiring a popular state television series that aired during Persian New Year holidays to name a character after her. While the show did not explicitly reference Akbari, Iranian audiences understood the connection and generated additional satirical content about the case. Victims' families expressed frustration that the case has become fodder for social media jokes. 'This incident was difficult and terrifying for us because the victims of this crime were our fathers,' a family member of one victim said. 'Now instead of witnessing swift justice and a thorough investigation of this case, we are seeing jokes that deepen our grief.'
