Spanish food packages parachuted into Gaza are sold for 90 euros

BarcelonaHumanitarian aid packages containing food rations that the Spanish government began parachuting into Gaza yesterday are being sold for 350 shekels (90 euros), ARA has learned from sources on the ground. Specifically, these are packages labeled as Ración de Alimentación (Feeding Ration, in Spanish). Each package contains cookies (salty, sweet, and dry), Nescafé coffee, chocolate and nuts, children's snacks, and various flavors of juice, all made in Spain. The package bears the logo of Jomipsa, a canning company based in Alicante. On its website, it explains that it also produces food packages for NATO and humanitarian crises.

"Some people received a package today through humanitarian aid boxes dropped by air over Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah. The entire package is currently being sold for 350 cheques. It has not reached the intended recipients: children, women, and vulnerable people. Looters have seized them," sources said.

A father displaced to Gaza City also confirmed to ARA that he found the Spanish packages in a market this Saturday morning, also for 350 shequels, and that the contents of the packages are also being resold separately. Another source confirmed the same information to the Efe news agency. This newspaper has contacted the Spanish Foreign Ministry, which said it is verifying the information.

"I urge the Spanish government not to airdrop aid, but to bring it in through border crossings so that it can be distributed by the UN with dignity and respect for those in need," Rafah Mayor Ahmad Al Shufi told ARA.

Since March 2, the Israeli army has blocked the entry of food, medicine, fuel, and other vital supplies into Gaza, allowing only a few trucks to enter on a sporadic basis. Yesterday, a total of 73 trucks entered the Strip, according to Hamas authorities, when the minimum required is 600. Both the UN and international NGOs with a presence on the ground have expressed their support. They had warned that airdropping aid packages is an expensive, ineffective system that endangers the civilian population and marginalizes the most vulnerable population., in the middle of the worst hunger crisis in Gaza, where at least 162 people, including 92 children, have already died of hunger due to the Israeli blockade.