The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) rejected on Friday a report where soldiers claimed they were told to shoot at crowds of Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza even though they posed no threat.
"We strongly reject the accusation raised in the article - the IDF did not instruct the forces to deliberately shoot at civilians, including those approaching the distribution centers. To be clear, IDF directives prohibit deliberate attacks on civilians," the army said in a statement.
The report, however, detailed conversations with officers and soldiers where commanders ordered troops to shoot at the crowds, with one soldier describing the situation as a "breakdown" of the IDF's ethical codes in Gaza.
The Health Ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas, said 549 people have been killed near aid centers while waiting for food over the past month, and that 4,000 have been injured. It is not clear all were a result of IDF actions.
Local outlet Haaretz added that the Military Advocate General instructed the IDF's General Staff's Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism to investigate potential war crimes in the areas.
Haaretz also said it counted 19 shooting incidents near the distribution sites since they opened on May 27. It added that, contrary to what was initially advertised, aid distribution has been chaotic, with people rushing the pile of boxes to be distributed.
Aid centers open for one hour each morning, and troops have reportedly been directed to shoot at crowds who arrive before they open to prevent them from approaching or after they close to disperse them.
"Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day. They're treated like a hostile force – no crowd-control measures, no tear gas – just live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars. Then, once the center opens, the shooting stops, and they know they can approach. Our form of communication is gunfire," one soldier said.
"We open fire early in the morning if someone tries to get in line from a few hundred meters away, and sometimes we just charge at them from close range. But there's no danger to the forces," the soldier added.
Originally published on Latin Times
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