Israeli military officials admit shooting at starving civilians

Amid the ongoing bombings in Gaza, Israeli officials have admitted shooting at Palestinian civilians waiting for aid, Middle East Eye reported on June 30th via Haaretz.

This confession comes after a Haaretz report on June 27th, in which Israeli troops admitted that they shot civilians in Gaza waiting for humanitarian aid even though they presented no threat to the troops. Reportedly, the troops said they were ordered to fire at the civilians.

The soldiers were directed to fire at five distribution points in Gaza, where the US-Israel backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been distributing aid since May 27th. This has led to a death toll of Palestinians shot dead while seeking aid to almost 600 since May 27th.

The officials in the Southern Command unit of Israel admitted that they were “ordered to fire at unarmed crowds near food distribution sites in Gaza, even when no threat was present” and further added  “that civilians had been killed due to ‘inaccurate and uncalculated’ artillery fire.”

They further added that in the most serious incident, between 30 and 40 people were targeted in an attack. Nevertheless, France 24 via Reuters reported on June 27th that the GHF will get $30 million in funding from the US.

As reported by Maghrebi on June 27th, this move followed growing concern towards the ongoing aggression near aid hubs providing food supplies for starving civilians in Gaza. 

Middle East Eye via Haaretz, France 24 via Reuters, Maghrebi.org