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Opioid pills discovered in US-backed food aid, Gaza authorities say (www.middleeasteye.net)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/worldnews@lemmy.ml
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The Gaza government media office on Friday condemned the discovery of oxycodone pills reportedly discovered in flour bags distributed by “American-Israeli” aid centres.

“We have so far documented four testimonies from citizens who found these pills inside the flour bags,” it said in a statement, warning of the “possibility that some of these narcotic substances were deliberately ground or dissolved in the flour itself”.

Oxycodone is an opioid meant to treat severe and long-term pain, often prescribed to cancer patients.

The drug is highly addictive and can have life-threatening effects, including breathing complications and hallucinations.

The media office’s statement comes after several social media posts shared images of pills purportedly discovered in flour bags in Gaza.

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[–] 14 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I imagine that other news outlets don’t agree with the allegations of this being to poison people in Gaza. If someone was trying to poison the food, uncrushed oxy pills in flour is a pretty dumb and expensive way to do it.

People are sick and dying and are desperate for painkillers.

Also, smugglers have been trying to find ways around the blockades.

Medical supply / drug smuggling happens in every war. Addicts, and people who are dying and suffering from mangled limbs, want drugs.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago

    I imagine that other news outlets don’t agree with the allegations of this being to poison people in Gaza.

    Other news outlets aren't there, they rely on feeds from the AP/AFP/Reuters cabal and their subsidiaries. So if those three don't pick the story up it doesn't get reported.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago* (3 children)

    You're assuming that the uncrushed ones were the intention and not that there is far more crushed up in the flour and the ones we see didn't get processed.

    Opioids are also one of the more common tools of spreading addiction in order to manipulate the people for a reason, it's effective.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    They didn’t say that there were actually narcotics ground up. That claim was an unsubstantiated “possibility”

    possibility that some of these narcotic substances were deliberately ground or dissolved in the flour itself

    People are jumping to conclusions without evidence, and are ignoring the fact that this is one of the few paths in for smugglers, and there is a massive demand for painkillers.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    You are also jumping to conclusions. The only fact is that there was opioids in the flour.

    Neither of us know why.

    I can't help but believe that the absolutely oppressive and evil genocide regime has resorted to poisoning the populace through the tiny amount of aid they let through.

    You choose to optimistically believe that this is the result of smugglers accessing those same few aid sites and using them to smuggle needed medicines.

    Idk why you're so dismissive as if this would be beyond the scope of Israeli evil.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    Agree. Unless you find the people who did it, you'll never know what the motivations are.

    That said, we have a lot of reporting that has shown smugglers have been looking for creative ways into gaza, and we have a lot of reporting that shows Israel's blockade has turned hospitals into a hellscape without proper painkillers.

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