Tensions rise as Israel strongly denies firing on Palestinians at Gaza humanitarian site
Drone footage released by the Israel Defense Forces shows armed and masked people in Gaza shooting civilians, Israel said Sunday, amid claims, which have been staunchly denied, that the IDF killed dozens of people collecting humanitarian aid.
The IDF said it was releasing additional information amid false reports that its soldiers fired upon civilians at an aid distribution site.
"Findings from an initial inquiry indicate that the IDF did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false," the IDF said in a statement. "The IDF is cooperating with the American Civil Organization (GHF) and international aid organizations in order to enable the distribution of aid to the Gazan residents — and not to Hamas."
The agency also said that Hamas has done everything it can to disrupt food distribution efforts in the Gaza Strip.
Israel quickly pushed back amid reports that at least 26 Palestinians were killed and some 175 were wounded while attempting to get food, according to officials from the Hamas-run health ministry and witnesses.
Witnesses said Israeli forces fired on crowds around 1,000 yards away from an aid site run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). A Palestinian journalist told the BBC that thousands had gathered near the aid site outside Gaza's southern city of Rafah when Israeli tanks approached and opened fire on the crowd.
The GHF has denied previous accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites, which are in Israeli military zones where independent access is limited.
Israel has long said that Hamas routinely prevents aid from reaching civilians, while also deliberately putting them in harms' way.
"Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that starves and endangers the population in order to preserve its control over the Gaza Strip. As part of its brutal behavior and its attempts to disrupt humanitarian aid, Hamas directly harms the residents of Gaza," the IDF said Sunday.
IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Hamas is spreading false rumors and "fake news" to stop Israel from distributing aid.
"I urge not to believe every rumor spread by Hamas," he said while in Rafah. "We will investigate each and every one of those incidents and each and every one of those allegations. We are a professional military."
In a separate incident overnight, the IDF said troops fired warning shots in the direction of several people advancing toward them near a humanitarian aid distribution site.
"Overnight, approximately one kilometer away from the humanitarian aid distribution site, and outside the operating hours of the humanitarian aid distribution site, IDF troops acted to prevent several suspects from approaching the troops. During the activity, warning shots were fired toward several suspects who advanced toward the troops. There is no connection between this incident and the false claims made against the IDF."
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