Gaza aid group says AP report of US contractors firing on aid-seeking Palestinians is 'categorically false'
"GHF launched an immediate investigation when the Associated Press first brought these allegations to our attention," the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said in a Thursday X post.
"Based on time-stamped video footage and sworn witness statements, we have concluded that the claims in the AP's story are categorically false," the foundation said, and noted that they were responding to videos in the AP report.
A story published Wednesday by the AP reported that "American contractors guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food."
The story says that two U.S. contractors who spoke to the AP anonymously said that their counterparts often hurled stun grenades and pepper spray toward Palestinians trying to get aid.
"They said their colleagues regularly lobbed stun grenades and pepper spray in the direction of the Palestinians," the story reads. "One contractor said bullets were fired in all directions — in the air, into the ground and at times toward the Palestinians, recalling at least one instance where he thought someone had been hit."
The AP story included videos they say were given by one of the contractors that "show hundreds of Palestinians crowded between metal gates, jostling for aid amid the sound of bullets, stun grenades and the sting of pepper spray. Other videos include conversations between English-speaking men discussing how to disperse crowds and encouraging each other after bursts of gunfire."
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation posted a lengthy statement on Thursday addressing the AP's reporting.
"GHF launched an immediate investigation when the Associated Press first brought these allegations to our attention," read the statement posted to X. "Based on time-stamped video footage and sworn witness statements, we have concluded that the claims in the AP's story are categorically false. At no point were civilians under fire at a GHF distribution site. The gunfire heard in the video was confirmed to have originated from the IDF, who was outside the immediate vicinity of the GHF distribution site. It was not directed at individuals, and no one was shot or injured."
The statement also alleges that the main source for the AP's story was a former employee "who was terminated for misconduct weeks before this article was published."
"That fact, combined with the AP's refusal to engage in good faith prior to publication, undermines the credibility of their reporting," the statement reads. "Their coverage of our aid operations has increasingly echoed narratives advanced by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health."
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said that it will be pursuing legal action.
Israel has agreed to President Donald Trump's request for a 60-day ceasefire. Trump has said he hopes to work with the Qataris and Egyptians to deliver a deal for Hamas and bring peace to the Middle East.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Associated Press for comment and an AP spokesperson said the outlet stands by the story.
The IDF was also reached out for comment but didn't immediately respond.
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