 "Palestinian children shove to get a ration of hot food from a charity kitchen set up at the Islamic University campus in Gaza City. AFP")
The head of the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has defended the US and Israel-backed organisation’s operation in the region despite the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians during aid collection.
Johnnie Moore, the chief of GHF, told BBC that while he does not dispute the deaths of Gazans, the claim that “100 per cent of those casualties are being attributed to close proximity to GHF” is “not true”.
He also accused the United Nations and other international organisations of spreading unverified information. “We spend an extended period of time trying to understand what actually happened, if anything actually happened and whether there’s a way that we can make it less likely to happen,” Moore said.
“People need to understand that it is disinformation that people going to GHF sites are being killed, we have no evidence of that happening in proximity to our sites,” he added.
Hundreds of Palestinians, including children, have died in the past weeks as they gathered at aid distribution centres to collect food after months of blockade imposed by Israel that cut off the region from aid. Most of these deaths were reported near distribution centres run by GHF.
IDF opens probe
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have opened an investigation into possible war crimes after more evidence points to the possibility of its troops deliberately opening fire at Palestinians receiving food at aid distribution centres across Gaza.
Anonymous Israeli soldiers have told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that troops had been told to shoot at crowds of Palestinian citizens collecting aid near food distribution sites to keep them away from Israeli military positions. The soldiers added that they had reservations about launching an assault on people who appeared to pose no threat.
IDF rejects media reports
The Israeli military has rejected reports by Israeli media, saying no forces had been ordered “to deliberately shoot at civilians, including those approaching the distribution centres”. It added, “To be clear, IDF directives prohibit deliberate attacks on civilians."
Late on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, similarly, rejected claims made in the Haaretz report in a joint statement. They accused the news outlet of “malicious falsehoods designed to defame the IDF, the most moral military in the world”.