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@anadoluajansiAt least 5 killed in Israeli army attack on Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid
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Israel Admits Civilian Harm at Gaza Aid Sites After Haaretz Probe
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Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an investigation on 27 June citing interviews with Israel Defense Forces officers and soldiers who said they had been ordered to fire on unarmed Palestinians crowding food distribution points run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Troops described the areas as a “killing field,” saying they used heavy machine-guns, mortars and grenade launchers even when no threat was posed.
Gaza’s government media office said 549 Palestinians have been killed near the aid sites since GHF operations began in late May, while United Nations agencies put the toll at more than 400 deaths since 19 May. Witness accounts collected by Haaretz indicate fatalities occurred before the centers opened, after they closed and whenever civilians approached the fenced perimeters.
Haaretz reported that Israel’s Military Advocate General has directed the army’s fact-finding mechanism to examine the testimony for possible war-crimes charges. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Israel Katz dismissed the claims as “blood libels,” but senior legal officials have nonetheless begun collecting evidence.
On 30 June the IDF issued an unusual public acknowledgment that Palestinian civilians had been “harmed” at aid distribution centers. A military spokesperson said three “tragic incidents” — involving what the army called inaccurate artillery intended to keep crowds away — caused an estimated 30 to 40 deaths, and that new field instructions had been circulated after “lessons learned.” The incidents remain under internal review.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the U.S.-backed GHF distribution model as “inherently unsafe” and urged accountability. Aid organizations and rights groups have renewed calls for the suspension of GHF operations and for independent investigations into the army’s conduct as Gaza’s humanitarian crisis deepens.
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