IDF denies firing on Gazans at or near aid distribution site, says warning shots were 1km away

The IDF denies opening fire on Palestinians at or near a humanitarian aid distribution site in southern Gaza’s Rafah this morning, after Hamas authorities said 31 were killed and dozens were wounded by Israeli fire in the area.

In a statement, the military slams the “false reports… including serious allegations against the IDF.”

Still, an Israeli military official says that troops did fire warning shots around a kilometer away from the aid site overnight, hours before the facility opened for Palestinians to be handed aid packages.

The official says that “during the night, about a kilometer from the distribution area, and not during the opening hours of the aid distribution site, IDF troops worked to prevent a number of suspects from approaching the forces.”

“During the activity, warning shots were fired at a number of suspects who approached the forces,” the official says, adding that “there is no connection between the incident in question and the false allegations against the IDF.”

After carrying out a preliminary investigation, the military says that it has determined that troops “did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false.”

“The IDF is enabling the American civil organization (GHF) and international aid organizations to distribute aid to the residents of Gaza and not to Hamas,” the military says.

“Hamas does everything in its power to undermine food distribution efforts in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that starves and endangers the population to preserve its control over the Gaza Strip. As part of its brutal behavior and its attempts to disrupt humanitarian aid, Hamas directly harms the residents of Gaza,” the statement continues.

The military also “calls on the media to be cautious with information published by the Hamas terror organization, as proven in several previous incidents.”