Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz strongly denied a report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Friday, which alleged that Israeli soldiers had been instructed to fire on Palestinians approaching aid distribution centers in Gaza. They condemned the claims as “malicious lies” aimed at smearing the Israeli military.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, over 500 Palestinians have died and hundreds more have been injured while attempting to access food distributed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) over the past month.
Eyewitnesses in Gaza claim Israeli forces have fired on crowds traveling to aid distribution points. In response to the Haaretz article, the Israeli military acknowledged that it is investigating civilian casualties near these sites but denied that troops were ordered to intentionally shoot at civilians.
The GHF, supported by a U.S. private contractor, has been handing out food boxes at four main locations, mostly in southern Gaza. In a social media post, the organization stated it had no knowledge of the alleged incidents but urged Israeli authorities to thoroughly investigate and publicly release their findings.
The humanitarian situation remains dire, with many Palestinians risking their lives just to obtain food. After a 2.5-month blockade imposed by Israel, during which food, water, and medical supplies were withheld until the GHF’s aid network was established, tens of thousands are struggling to survive.
Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmyiha, director of Shifa Hospital, reported that eight bodies brought in Friday had come from the GHF distribution site in Netzarim, though their exact cause of death was unclear. A GHF representative said the group was unaware of any such fatalities at its sites that day. An additional 20 bodies at the hospital were casualties from Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza.
Many Palestinians travel on foot for hours through dangerous military zones to reach aid sites. Witnesses say Israeli troops frequently fire in these areas, though the military insists it uses warning shots to disperse crowds.
Mohammad Fawzi, a displaced resident of Rafah, described his journey to a GHF distribution site in the Shakoush area. “We were under fire from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. just trying to get aid. Some people managed to receive it. There were casualties. It’s a terrible situation,” he said, adding that he only managed to retrieve empty boxes.
On Friday, Doctors Without Borders condemned the current aid system, calling it “a slaughter disguised as humanitarian aid” and demanded it be halted immediately.
Since the collapse of the ceasefire on March 18, more than 6,000 people have died and over 20,000 have been wounded in Gaza. Overall, since the conflict began, over 56,000 people have been killed and 132,000 injured, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which says women and children account for more than half of the deaths. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants.
Israel maintains that it targets only Hamas fighters and attributes civilian deaths to the group’s tactics of operating within densely populated areas.
The ongoing war began after Hamas launched an attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages. Around 50 hostages are still believed to be held in Gaza.
On Friday, six people were killed and 10 injured in an Israeli strike near the Martyrs Roundabout in Bureij Camp, central Gaza, according to medical staff at Awda Hospital in Nuseirat.
Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged both sides to demonstrate “political courage” and agree to a ceasefire, similar to the one brokered between Israel and Iran. He also advocated for a return to the U.N.-led aid distribution system in Gaza, warning that Israeli military actions have created “a humanitarian crisis of horrific proportions.”
“No one should be risking their life in search of food,” Guterres said on Friday.