Israel punches back at UN chief for demanding probe into Gaza aid site shooting

Israel calls a demand from United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres for an investigation into reported violence at a Gaza aid site a “disgrace.”

“Even if you look very hard, there’s one word you won’t find in the Secretary-General’s statement: Hamas,” writes Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein on X.

“Not a word about the fact that Hamas is the one shooting civilians and trying to prevent them from collecting aid packages.”

“Not a word about the fact that Hamas — as stated by U.S. Special Envoy Witkoff — rejected yet another ceasefire proposal and the release of the hostages.”

Guterres said on Monday he was “appalled” by reports that Palestinians were killed the previous day on their way to a Gaza Humanitarian Fund distribution site for aid, that the UN must be allowed to provide aid to Gazans, and said that there is no military solution to the conflict in Gaza.

Multiple witnesses and Hamas authorities in the Strip said at least 31 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded early Sunday by Israeli fire as they were on their way to a Gaza Humanitarian Fund distribution site in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces said it didn’t shoot Gazans at or near the distribution site, but an Israeli military official acknowledged that troops did fire warning shots overnight around a kilometer away from the aid site.

Israel and the United States say they helped establish the new aid system to circumvent Hamas, which they accuse of siphoning off assistance.

UN agencies have refused to work with the system, which they say violates humanitarian principles.

Marmorstein says that “the real investigation that needs to be opened is why the UN continues to resist any attempt to provide aid directly to the people of Gaza.”