Narcotic pills have been found inside US-dispatched flour bags in the Israeli-besieged enclave, Palestinian authorities said.
In a statement, Gaza’s government media office said prescription painkiller Oxycodone was found by Palestinians inside flour bags they received from US-run aid distribution points in Gaza.
“It is possible that these pills were deliberately ground or dissolved inside the flour itself, which constitutes a direct assault on public health,” it warned.
The media office held Israel fully responsible for this "heinous crime" aimed at spreading addiction and destroying the Palestinian social fabric from within.
“This is a part of the ongoing Israeli genocide against the Palestinians,” it said, calling Israel’s use of drugs a "soft weapon in a dirty war against civilians.”
Read: Israeli strikes kill 37 in Gaza within 24-hours
Gaza’s Anti-Drug Committee has urged residents to inspect food aid and report any foreign substances, warning that some items from what it described as “death traps called US-Israeli aid centres” may be contaminated.
Israel had crafted a plan to establish four aid distribution points in southern and central Gaza, which Israeli media say aims to evacuate Palestinians from northern Gaza into the south.
The Israeli mechanism was opposed by the international community and the UN, which came as an alternative attempt by Israel to bypass the aid distribution through UN channels.
Dr Khalil Mazen Abu Nada and pharmacist Omar Hamad elaborated on the findings, raising concerns over the potential misuse of the drug.
The most despicable form of genocide has recently come to light with the spread of a drug called Oxycodone among the population. Israel has reportedly been smuggling it in through bags of flour provided as aid.
— Omar Hamad | عُـمَـرْ 𓂆 (@OmarHamadD) June 26, 2025
As a pharmacist, let me explain what this drug is: it belongs to the…
What is Oxycodone?
Oxycodone is typically prescribed for managing severe pain in cancer patients or post-surgical recovery. It is highly addictive and poses serious health risks if misused or consumed unknowingly.
'Weaponisation of food'
Meanwhile, the United Nations this week condemned Israel for what it called the “weaponisation of food” in Gaza, labelling the practice a war crime. It also called on Israeli forces to “stop shooting at people trying to get food”.
According to UN figures, over 410 Palestinians have been killed and at least 3,000 wounded while attempting to access or collect humanitarian aid since the beginning of the Israeli siege.
“Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risk being killed while trying to get food,” the UN human rights office said in briefing notes on Tuesday.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed body, began distributing food in Gaza on 26 May after Israel halted all official aid entry for over two months. The UN warned in May that “100 percent of the population” in Gaza is “at risk of famine”.
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