‘A killing field’: IDF said probing troops’ near-daily shooting of Gazans near aid sites as potential war crimes

The IDF reportedly launched a probe this week into potential war crimes committed by its troops who have been opening fire on hungry Palestinians on a near-daily basis as they try and reach aid distribution sites, even though they do not pose a threat.

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 Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution sites, Haaretz reports.

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 Palestinians who posed a threat.

Representatives from the MAG’s office pushed back, 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 having responded.

אני מתחנן אליכם: תסתכלו על הסרטון הזה ממרכזי ״חלוקת הסיוע״ של צה״ל וארה״ב בעזה. כל האנשים כאן, שמנסים לחמוק מהכדורים, עומדים בתור לאוכל. מי שיורה עליהם הם החיילים שלנו. כן, היום נחשף סופית – בעדויות ישירות של חיילים בתחקיר הארץ – שצה״ל יורה יום יום על אנשים מורעבים בתור לאוכל >> pic.twitter.com/NBf0xwLYw6

— Alon-Lee Green – ألون-لي جرين – אלון-לי גרין ???? (@AlonLeeGreen) June 27, 2025

“This isn’t about a few people being killed – we’re talking about dozens of casualties every day,” the MAG official adds.

The Hamas-run health ministry says 549 people have been killed and 4,000 have been wounded 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 Palestinians, but characterized it as “warning shots” at those who got too close to soldiers or used site access routes when distribution sites were closed.

Israeli soldiers serving near the aid distribution sites described far more grim scenarios in interviews with Haaretz on condition of anonymity.

“It’s a killing field,” one soldier says. “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 continues. “I’m not aware of a single instance of return fire. There’s no enemy, no weapons.”

He describes 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 tells 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.”

Asked to respond to the report, the IDF does not deny any of its contents.

However, it stresses that Hamas is working to prevent the successful operation of GHF sites.

To address the repeated shootings, the IDF says it has placed new fencing and signage on access routes so civilians know where to go.

“Following incidents where there were reports of harm to civilians arriving at distribution centers, in-depth investigations were conducted, and instructions were given to forces on the ground based on lessons learned. These incidents were referred for examination by the General Staff’s debriefing mechanism.”