[News] Israeli soldiers ‘ordered’ to shoot unarmed Gaza aid seekers

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Israeli soldiers ‘ordered’ to shoot unarmed Gaza aid seekers: Report

*The Israeli news outlet, Haaretz, reports that soldiers operating near
food aid sites in Gaza have deliberately fired upon Palestinians.*
[image: GAZA CITY, GAZA - JUNE 27: Relatives of the Palestinians killed in
Israeli army attack on the Usama bin Zeid School, which was sheltering
displaced Palestinians, mourn as the bodies and injured Palestinians are
brought to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Gaza on Jnue 27, 2025. ( Ahmed
Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini - Anadolu Agency )]
Relatives of people killed in an Israeli attack on the Usama bin Zeid
School, which was sheltering displaced Palestinians, grieve at al-Shifa
Hospital, in Gaza City, on Friday [Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini/Anadolu]
Published On 27 Jun 2025 -
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/27/israeli-soldiers-ordered-to-shoot-at-unarmed-gaza-aid-seekers-report
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Israeli soldiers have deliberately shot at unarmed Palestinians seeking aid
in Gaza after being “ordered” to do so by their commanders, the Israeli
newspaper Haaretz reports.

Israel ordered an investigation into possible war crimes over the
allegations by some soldiers that it revealed on Friday, Haaretz said.

At least 549 Palestinians have been killed and 4,066 injured while waiting
for food aid distributed at sites run by the Israeli-and United
States-backed
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/27/us-approves-30m-for-controversial-israel-backed-gaza-aid-group>
Gaza
Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the Gaza Government Media Office said on
Thursday. The GHF has been a source of widespread criticism since its
establishment in May.

According to the Haaretz report, which quoted unnamed Israeli soldiers,
troops were told to fire at the crowds of Palestinians and use unnecessary
lethal force against people who appeared to pose no threat.

“We fired machineguns from tanks and threw grenades,” one soldier told
Haaretz. “There was one incident where a group of civilians was hit while
advancing under the cover of fog.”

In another instance, a soldier said that where they were stationed in Gaza,
between “one and five people were killed every day”.

“It’s a killing field,” that soldier said.

Method of ‘control’

The Israeli army “strongly rejected” the accusations in the report,
according to a military statement published on Telegram. “Any allegation of
a deviation from the law or [military] directives will be thoroughly
examined, and further action will be taken as necessary. The allegations of
deliberate fire toward civilians presented in the article are not
recognized in the field,” it said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz
condemned the report, calling it “blood libel” on the Israeli Defence
Forces (IDF), according to a statement carried by The Times of Israel news
outlet.

“The IDF operates under difficult conditions against a terrorist enemy that
operates from within the civilian population,” they said. “IDF soldiers
receive clear orders to avoid harming innocent civilians, and they act
accordingly.”

According to Haaretz, the Military Advocate General has told the army’s
General Staff’s Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism, which reviews incidents
involving potential violations of the laws of war, to investigate suspected
war crimes at these aid sites.

One of the authors of the report, Nir Hasson, told Al Jazeera that the
Israeli directive to fire on civilians is part of a method to “control” the
aid seekers.

“It’s actually a practice of … controlling the crowd by fire, like if you
wanted the crowd to run off [from] a place, you shoot them at them, even
though you know they are unarmed … You use fire to move people from one
point to another,” he said from West Jerusalem.

While the journalist and his colleagues do not know the name of the
commander who might have issued such a directive, Hasson said that he would
likely hold a position high up in the army.

Despite this practice at these sites, most Israelis and the army’s troops
still believe the war on Gaza is just, even while some cracks are emerging
in this understanding, the journalist said.

“[There are] more and more people who are asking themselves if this war is
necessary, but also what is the humanitarian price the Gazan population is
[paying] for this war,” he said.
3:22

‘A death trap’

“War crimes” are taking place at GHF aid distribution sites in Gaza, the
enclave’s Government Media Office said in a statement, referencing “the
shocking confessions” published by Haaretz.

“The report’s direct military orders to fire on unarmed civilians who pose
no threat, and the use of heavy machine guns, artillery, and shells against
peaceful gatherings waiting for food, are further evidence that the Israeli
occupation army is pursuing a systematic policy of genocide under the false
guise of ‘relief’,” the statement added.

Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said the Haaretz
report is “shocking”.

“People in Gaza have said these distribution centres have now become a
death trap for Palestinians,” Salhut said. “Aid groups have said that
Palestinians are left with no choice – to either starve to death, or die
seeking the very little food that is offered in the distribution centres
run by the GHF
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/27/us-approves-30m-for-controversial-israel-backed-gaza-aid-group>
.”

The GHF operates four sites in Gaza – one in the centre and three in the
south – and attacks on aid seekers have only increased since an Israeli
blockade was lifted and the Foundation started distributing food at the end
of May.

On Friday, medics said six people were killed by gunfire as they tried to
get food in southern Gaza.

The GHF has come under intense condemnation by aid groups, including the
United Nations, for its “weaponisation” of vital items.

“We don’t need a report of that nature to acknowledge that there have been
massive violations of international law [in Gaza],” UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres said in response to a question from Al Jazeera about the
Haaretz report. “And when there is a violation of international law, there
must be accountability,” he added at a press conference in New York.

Elsewhere on Friday, medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its
French initials, MSF, called the GHF’s aid distribution sites “slaughter
masquerading as humanitarian aid”.

Since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023, at least 56,331 people
have been killed, with 132,632 wounded in Israeli attacks, Gaza’s Health
Ministry reported.
- [image: Killed while waiting for food: Israeli soldiers speak to media
about orders to shoot]
Killed while waiting for food: Israeli soldiers speak to media about orders
to shoot
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