War crimes probe launched as Israeli soldiers are ‘being ordered to shoot at unarmed Palestinians’ waiting for aid

At least 549 Palestinians have been killed and 4,066 injured while waiting for food aid at sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the US, according to the Gaza Government Media Office.

Massacres at the food distribution sites have been a common occurrence since Israel slightly eased its blockade of humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, in May and began managing the distribution of aid itself.

According to a new report, Israeli troops have been ordered to shoot at unarmed Palestinians, even when they didn’t pose a threat, to drive them away from the sites or disperse them.

The months-long blockade had driven Gaza’s population of around 2 million people to the brink of famine.

Israel and the US have claimed the GHF system is designed to stop Hamas from intercepting or diverting aid supplies.

But the GHF has come under intense scrutiny, seeing strong criticism from the UN and humanitarian aid groups, who have refused to work with it. They claim it violates basic humanitarian standards as it is staffed by mostly American private security contractors, and coordinates its deliveries with Israeli troops.

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Footage has emerged of a number of instances where thousands Palestinians are being shot at while waiting to enter the compounds.

Thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands, of desperate Palestinians descend on the aid sites every day during the short windows in which they are open - usually just one hour every day.

Soldiers and officers in the IDF have now told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz they were told to fire at the crowds of civilians, with one soldier describing the aid hubs as ‘a killing field.’

“Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day,” one soldier said. “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.”

The soldier said he was “not aware of a single instance of return fire. There’s no enemy, no weapons.”

The Israeli Military Advocate General has ordered an investigation to be opened into potential violations of the laws of war, trying to find out if some of the killings at the aid sites constitute war crimes.

Israeli PM Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz have both denied the allegations of war cries, calling them ‘blood libels’.

Other IDF officers told the newspaper that the army does not allow footage from within or nearby the aid sites to be seen by the public - neither in Israel or abroad. Some claim the army is pleased that the humanitarian situation in Gaza hasn’t prompted significant international outrage, which would affect the legitimacy of the war.

"Gaza doesn't interest anyone anymore," said a reservist who had just completed a tour in northern Gaza.

"It's become a place with its own set of rules. The loss of human life means nothing. It's not even an 'unfortunate incident,' like they used to say."

An officer working as security on the compound said Israel's approach to aid distribution with the GHF was ‘deeply flawed’.

"Working with a civilian population when your only means of interaction is opening fire – that's highly problematic, to say the least," he told Haaretz. "It's neither ethically nor morally acceptable for people to have to reach, or fail to reach, a [humanitarian zone] under tank fire, snipers and mortar shells."

"At night, we open fire to signal to the population that this is a combat zone and they mustn't come near," the officer said.

"Once, the mortars stopped firing, and we saw people starting to approach. So we resumed fire to make it clear they weren't allowed to. In the end, one of the shells landed on a group of people."

In other cases, he said, "We fired machine guns from tanks and threw grenades. There was one incident where a group of civilians was hit while advancing under the cover of fog. It wasn't intentional, but these things happen.”

Another soldier, who operates a tank, told the newspaper that, while the army sometimes uses tank fire as warnings, “firing shells has just become standard practice. Every time we fire, there are casualties and deaths, and when someone asks why a shell is necessary, there’s never a good answer. Sometimes, merely asking the question annoys the commanders.”

The Israeli army “strongly rejected” the accusations in the report.

“Any allegation of a deviation from the law or [military] directives will be thoroughly examined, and further action will be taken as necessary,” read a military statement published on Telegram.

“The allegations of deliberate fire toward civilians presented in the article are not recognized in the field,” it said.

But other military sources say the army isn’t concerned with legal or ethical considerations. One army member told the paper: “They talk about using artillery on a junction full of civilians as if it’s normal,” recalling a meeting between the leaders of the IDF’s Southern Command.

“An entire conversation about whether it’s right or wrong to use artillery, without even asking why that weapon was needed in the first place. What concerns everyone is whether it’ll hurt our legitimacy to keep operating in Gaza. The moral aspect is practically nonexistent. No one stops to ask why dozens of civilians looking for food are being killed every day.”