Israeli Officer Admits Shooting Palestinians at Gaza Aid Site

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Military officials of Israel admitted on Monday that they had fired at Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid at distribution points in Gaza. Attacks on starving Palestinian civilians were carried out, one using artillery shells, even when they posed no threat to the troops, as reported by the Haaretz newspaper cited by Anadolu.

The confession follows a report on Friday by Haaretz, which quoted testimony from Israeli soldiers and officers who admitted to being ordered to fire at starving civilians gathering near U.S. aid centers or GHF.

An unnamed official at the Israeli Southern Command admitted "that civilians have been killed as a result of inaccurate and unaccounted artillery fire," according to the report.

They confirmed that "in the most serious incidents involving the firing at civilians, between 30 and 40 people were targeted-some were killed, others were injured to varying degrees."

"The shooting was intended to maintain order at the food distribution locations," they claimed.

Despite recurrent lethal attacks on starving civilians, the officials claim that the military has since switched to "other methods."

Since May 27, Israel and the U.S. have been implementing a limited aid distribution plan in Gaza, without United Nations and international oversight. The distribution is rejected by the UN and international bodies for not adhering to humanitarian principles. The aid administrators are referred to as U.S. mercenaries and are supported by pro-Israel American businessmen.

The Israeli forces have fired at Palestinian civilians queuing for food, effectively forcing them to choose between starvation or the risk of being shot.

At the same time, Israel has kept the Gaza border crossings tightly shut since March 2, only allowing in a few dozen trucks. While aid organizations say the territory needs at least 500 trucks a day to meet basic needs.

Southern Command officials claimed to Haaretz that "there is no hunger" in Gaza and claimed that "the population is, in general, satisfied with the food distribution process."

However, they admitted that "the majority of the food brought via aid convoys has been looted by clans-whom they blame for Hamas' lack of control over most of the Gaza Strip."

They added that the Israeli military "does not act against those who loot the convoys," saying, "Their responsibility is to secure the entry of aid to Gaza, not its delivery to distribution points."

An unnamed soldier described the orders to fire at civilians as "a collapse of the moral standards of the Israeli troops in Gaza."

Another soldier told Haaretz, "It's a slaughter zone. In the area where I served, between one and five (Palestinians) are killed every day. They are treated as enemy forces."

He admitted to using heavy weapons like machine guns, grenade launchers, and mortars against ordinary Palestinians.

"We fire direct shots in every possible way. Once those centers are opened, we stop firing, and people know they can approach. Our only means of communication is firing."

The soldier added: "We fire early in the morning if someone tries to queue a few hundred meters away. Sometimes we attack from close range. There is no threat to the Israeli forces."

As of Sunday, the Gaza Government Media Office reported that at least 580 Palestinians had been killed and over 4,216 injured while attempting to access aid distributed by the U.S.-Israel near humanitarian centers since May 27. 39 people are reported missing.

Despite international calls for a ceasefire, Israeli forces have killed over 56,500 Palestinians in deadly attacks in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

Last November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its war in the enclave.

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