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2025-06-28 Israel-Palestine-Jordan
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IDF confirms probe into killings near Gaza aid site, denies troops ordered to shoot civilians
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[IsraelTimes] Haaretz report says military looking into possible war crimes, cites soldiers’ testimonies describing a ‘killing field,’ with troops routinely using heavy live fire for crowd control
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged on Friday that it was probing allegations that troops are using deadly fire on hungry aid-seeking Gazooks, but vociferously denied that troops are being ordered by commanders to deliberately open fire on the Paleostinian civilians.
The statement was issued after the Haaretz daily reported that the military launched a probe this week into potential war crimes committed by its troops and quoted unidentified soldiers as saying that the area was a "killing field" and that they were ordered to treat the aid seekers like combatants and using heavy live fire for crowd control.
Haaretz prides itself on being the New York Times of Israel, and so they are. Not something I would be proud of, but I have standards… The Haaretz report drew a first detailed response from the military regarding the near-daily deadly shootings around aid distribution sites. It also prompted a rare joint statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, accusing the left-wing newspaper of a "blood libel" against the IDF.
According to Haaretz, the mass-casualty incidents were discussed at a meeting earlier this week during which the Military Advocate General’s (MAG) Office directed the top-tier General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism to investigate suspected war crimes that have largely taken place near Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response ...
Humanitarian Foundation distribution sites.
The mechanism is an independent military body responsible for investigating unusual incidents amid the war.
During the meeting, officials in the MAG’s office expressed alarm over mounting global uproar over the killing of civilians en route to aid sites, Haaretz reported. Senior officers from the IDF’s Southern Command pushed back, claiming that the incidents have been isolated and that troops only fired at Paleostinians who posed a threat.
Representatives from the MAG’s office disagreed, insisting that the Southern Command’s account doesn’t line up with the facts on the ground, according to a source who attended the meeting.
"The claim that these are isolated cases doesn’t align with incidents in which grenades were dropped from the air and mortars and artillery were fired at civilians," a MAG representative is quoted as saying.
"This isn’t about a few people being killed — we’re talking about dozens of casualties every day," the MAG official added.
The Hamas
 ..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
-run health ministry says 549 people have been killed and 4,000 have been maimed trying to pick up aid from GHF sites or while waiting for UN food trucks since May 27, when GHF launched.
The numbers have not been verified, but between May 27 and June 24, there were at least 19 IDF shooting incidents related to humanitarian aid distribution, according to a review of reports out of Gaza conducted by The Times of Israel.
In most of these cases, the IDF has admitted to opening fire and striking Paleostinians, but characterized it as "warning shots" at those who got too close to soldiers or used site access routes when distribution sites were closed.
There has been widespread confusion about access to the aid, with the army imposing, for a time, a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on approach routes to GHF sites. But locals often have to set out well before dawn to have any chance of retrieving food.
According to the report, soldiers are receiving orders to fire at people who approach the distribution sites before they open or remain there after they have closed. The report added that many of the instances of fire occurred at nighttime, meaning the Paleostinians who were fired at possibly did not know they were in a forbidden area.
A KILLING FIELD
Israeli soldiers serving near the aid distribution sites described grim scenarios in interviews with Haaretz on condition of anonymity.
"It’s a killing field," one soldier said. "Where I was stationed there, between one and five people were killed every day. 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."
"We open fire early in the morning if someone tries to get in line from a few hundred meters away, and sometimes we just charge at them from close range. But there’s no danger to the forces," the soldier continued. "I’m not aware of a single instance of return fire. There’s no enemy, no weapons."
He described the incidents as a deadly form of the children’s game "Red light, green light."
"Firing mortars to keep hungry people away is neither professional nor humane. I know there are Hamas operatives among them, but there are also people who simply want to receive aid," another soldier told Haaretz.
"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 [the IDF] used to say."
Another soldier told Haaretz: "This has become routine. You know it isn’t okay. You feel not okay with it, that the commanders are taking the law into their hands. But Gaza is a parallel universe, [we] move on very quickly. The truth is that most don’t even stop to think about it."
A BLOOD LIBEL
Following the Haaretz report, the military put out a statement confirming that the high-level General Staff Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism was probing the matter.
However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits...
it said that it strongly rejected the Haaretz report, adding that it is "operating to allow and facilitate the distribution of humanitarian aid by the American Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), and to secure the routes leading to the distribution centers, to allow the aid to reach the civilians rather than Hamas.
"The IDF did not instruct the forces to deliberately shoot at civilians, including those approaching the distribution centers. To be clear, IDF directives prohibit deliberate attacks on civilians."
Nevertheless, the statement said that the IDF is trying to improve at minimizing "the potential friction" with civilians. "As part of this effort, IDF forces have recently taken steps to reorganize the area, including the installation of new fencing, signage, the opening of additional routes, and more."
"Any allegation of a deviation from the law or IDF directives will be thoroughly examined, and further action will be taken as necessary," the statement continued.
"The allegations of deliberate fire toward civilians presented in the article are not recognized in the field," the IDF asserted.
"These are vicious lies designed to discredit the IDF — the most moral army in the world," the statement said. "IDF soldiers receive clear orders to avoid harming innocent civilians, and they act accordingly."
Following the report, the GHF agency said it was "not aware of any of these incidents."
The GHF statement makes a point of asserting that the shootings have not taken place at or in the immediate vicinity of its distribution sites.
GHF notes in its statement that the "IDF is tasked with providing safe passage for aid-seekers to all humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza, including GHF," its statement adds.
Israeli strike kills 18 picking up aid as IDF said to target Hamas-linked unit distributing it
[IsraelTimes] An Israeli strike hit a street in central Gaza on Thursday, where witnesses say a crowd of people was getting bags of flour from a Hamas-linked police unit that had confiscated the goods from gangs looting aid convoys. Hospital officials said 18 people were killed.
The strike in the central town of Deir al-Balah on Thursday appeared to target members of the Hamas-linked Sahm unit, a security group tasked with stopping looters and cracking down on merchants who sell stolen aid at high prices. The unit is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run interior ministry, but includes members of other factions.
Witnesses say the Sahm unit was distributing bags of flour and other goods confiscated from looters and corrupt merchants, drawing a crowd when the strike hit.
Video of the aftermath showed bodies, several torn, of multiple young men in the street with blood splattering on the pavement and walls of buildings. The dead included a child and at least seven Sahm members, according to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where casualties were taken.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has accused the Hamas terror group of stealing aid and using it to prop up its rule in the enclave. Israeli forces have repeatedly struck Gaza’s police, considering them a branch of Hamas.
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Posted by trailing wife 2025-06-28 2025-06-28 01:45||
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