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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday vehemently rejected a report alleging that the country’s military commanders had ordered soldiers to fire at Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza.
The denial comes after the left-leaning daily Haaretz quoted unnamed soldiers who claimed commanders instructed troops to shoot at crowds near aid distribution centres to disperse them, even when the crowds posed no immediate threat.
These allegations follow weeks of consistent reports from eyewitnesses and local authorities detailing deadly incidents around aid distribution points in the territory, where Israeli forces are engaged in conflict with Hamas militants.
Haaretz also reported that the military advocate general, the Israeli military’s highest legal authority, had ordered an investigation into “suspected war crimes” at aid sites. When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military declined to comment specifically on this claim.
In a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu asserted that Israel “absolutely rejects the contemptible blood libels” and “malicious falsehoods” contained in the Haaretz article.
Separately, the military issued a statement affirming that it “did not instruct the forces to deliberately shoot at civilians, including those approaching the distribution centres,” and that its “directives prohibit deliberate attacks on civilians.”
After more than 20 months of devastating conflict, human rights groups warn that Gaza’s population of over two million people is facing famine-like conditions.
The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza states that more than 500 individuals have been killed near aid centres since late May, coinciding with the initiation of a new US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution system.
The privately run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, however, denies that fatal incidents have occurred near its aid points.
Netanyahu and Katz concluded their joint statement by emphasising that “the soldiers of the (Israeli military) receive clear orders to avoid harming innocents—and operate accordingly.”
