At least 26 Palestinians were reportedly killed and some 175 were wounded as they made their way to receive food in the Gaza Strip, according to officials from the Hamas-run health ministry and witnesses, but Israeli officials dispute these claims.
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 of Palestinians had gathered near the aid site near Gaza’s southern city of Rafah when Israeli tanks approached and opened fire on the crowd.
The Israeli Defense Forces said it is “currently unaware of injuries caused by IDF fire within the Humanitarian Aid distribution site,” adding that “the matter is still under review.” The GHF stated that it is “false and fabricated,” and denied any casualties, accusing Hamas of spreading false reports to tarnish its operations.
The foundation has denied previous accounts of chaos and gunfire around its sites, which are in Israeli military zones where independent access is limited. The U.N. agencies and major aid groups have refused to work with the new system, arguing that it violates humanitarian principles as it allows Israel to control who receives aid and forces people to relocate to distribution sites.
Israel and the U.S., which also backs the foundation, say the new aid system seeks to prevent Hamas from taking away aid. Israel has not provided any evidence of systematic diversion and the U.N. denies it has happened. The U.N. system has struggled to bring in aid after Israel recently slightly eased its total blockade of the territory. The groups say Israel’s restrictions, the breakdown of law and order and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
This incident has raised significant concerns about the safety of aid distribution efforts in the region and the transparency of the involved parties. The discrepancy in casualty reports underscores the challenges of verifying information in conflict zones, where access to independent verification is often limited. The allegations of military action against civilians have drawn international condemnation, emphasizing the need for impartial investigations into these events.