Israel denies that IDF soldiers were ordered to shoot at aid site
The UN Secretary General has said the Israeli-US aid operation in Gaza is 'killing people' and is 'inherently unsafe'. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed near food distribution sites in the past month, according to the Hamas-run government.
This comes amid claims in the Israeli media that IDF soldiers are being ordered to fire on unarmed civilians seeking food. Tonight Israel's Prime Minister angrily denied the allegations.
Reporter: Alex Thomson
Producer: Ed Gove
Camera/Editor: Stuart Webb
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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Trump says Gaza ceasefire is possible within a week
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BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
GHF boss defends Gaza aid operation after hundreds of Palestinians killed near sites
The head of a controversial US and Israeli-backed aid group has defended its work after repeated incidents of killings and injuries of Palestinians seeking Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) boss Johnnie Moore told the BBC World Service's Newshour he was not denying deaths near aid sites, but said "100% of those casualties are being attributed to close proximity to GHF" and that was "not true". He accused the UN and other international organisations of spreading information they could not verify. The GHF aid system has been condemned by UN agencies, and on Friday UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres branded it "inherently unsafe". "Any operation that channels desperate civilians into militarized zones is inherently unsafe. The search for food must never be a death sentence," the UN chief Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and 4,000 injured on their way to get aid since GHF took over aid days of GHF operations starting in late May, dozens of Palestinians were killed in separate incidents on 1 and 3 June, sparking international condemnation. Since then, the UN and aid groups have expressed alarm at the near-daily reports of Palestinians being killed near the GHF's sites, which are inside Israeli military and medics have on several occasions described Israeli forces opening fire on crowds near aid newspaper Haaretz published a story on Friday in which unnamed IDF soldiers said they were ordered to shoot at unarmed civilians near aid distribution sites, to drive them away or disperse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly rejected the report calling the allegations "malicious falsehoods".In a statement to the BBC, the IDF said it "did not instruct the forces to deliberately shoot at civilians, including those approaching the distribution centres".It added it was looking to improve "the operational response" in the aid areas and had recently added new fencing and signage, and opened new routes to reach the handout his part, the head of the GHF said "100% of the casualties are being attributed to the IDF - as best as we can tell that's also not true".In statements over the past month, the IDF have several times said they fired "warning shots" at individuals who they described as "suspects" or claimed posed a threat."We spend an extended period of time trying to understand what actually happened, if anything actually happened and whether there's a way that we can make it less likely to happen," Mr Moore said."In most circumstances we haven't been able to identify anything happening.""People need to understand that it is disinformation that people going to GHF sites are being killed, we have no evidence of that happening in proximity to our sites," he does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, to send journalists into Gaza, which limits our ability to verify what is happening on the ground in the territory. Mr Moore alleged that prior to GHF's operations the majority of UN aid trucks were being hijacked at UN has said there is no evidence for a large-scale hijacking of its aid trucks. When told this, Mr Moore said the "UN is not being honest".The volume of aid entering Gaza is still considered inadequate, despite Israel last month partially easing an 11-week blockade introduced in March. Experts have warned the territory remains on the brink of GHF is hoping to reach the milestone of providing 50 million meals in Gaza, which would equate to less than a meal a day per person since operations pushed on whether food was really getting to the people who needed it most, Mr Moore admitted the operation was "inefficient", but said 50 million meals was more than had been available a month said the GHF needs to scale up and hopefully work with organisations such as the UN."The mission is clear. We just want to feed Gazans," he Thursday, the US State Department announced $30m (£22m; €26m) in funding for the GHF, which is its first known direct contribution to the group. The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken than 56,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.
Scottish Sun
4 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Reckless pro-Palestine protesters break into warehouse and damage nearly £1m of military equipment destined for UKRAINE
The firm's CEO said they hadn't supplied Israel in over two decades PUTIN'S USEFUL IDIOTS Reckless pro-Palestine protesters break into warehouse and damage nearly £1m of military equipment destined for UKRAINE Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A SWARM of pro-Palestinian protesters caused nearly £1million worth of damage to military equipment which had been earmarked for Ukraine. Some 150 dim-witted activists wielding hammers and spray paint went on a warehouse rampage - reportedly causing severe damage to several tanks. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 CEO of OIP Land Systems Freddy Versluys said the vandals caused severe damage to the tanks at his warehouse (pictured) Credit: Reuters 4 Pro-Palestine protesters smashed up computers and damaged the facility (stock) Credit: Reuters 4 The firm has provided around 260 armoured vehicles to Ukraine since Putin's invasion Credit: Getty They raided hangars and smashed up computers at the facility in Belgium owned by OIP Land Systems - who produce military equipment for Ukraine. But the idiotic protesters, dressed in white overalls and masks, wrongly believed that the equipment was being shipped to Israel, 7sur7 reported. Taking part in the Stop Arming Israel campaign, they first broke into and ransacked the warehouse's offices in Tournai. The dopey demonstrators then headed for the storage units before vandalising the facility and the critical equipment inside it. READ MORE WORLD NEWS SHELL SHOCKED Russians advance slower than a SNAIL with 50k pinned down in 'dronegrinder' They brought along disc cutters and hammers during the frenzy on Monday which "severely damaged some vehicles", the firm's CEO Freddy Verslyus said. He branded the group of vandals "Hamas sympathisers". The next shipment of military aid which - was reserved specifically to help Volodymyr Zelensky fend off Russia's meatgrinder invasion - has now been delayed. OIP Land Systems specialises in the maintenance, repair, and modernisation of military vehicles. Since the Vladimir Putin's bloody invasion, the company has already delivered around 260 armoured vehicles to the Ukrainian army. Versluys said: "The next delivery is now delayed by at least a month. Vladimir Putin rages 'all of Ukraine is ours' as he threatens to seize key city while Kyiv slams tyrant as 'deranged' "That's all these Hamas sympathisers will have achieved with their actions." The fuming CEO also announced his intention to file a complaint against unknown parties following the huge £1million damage bill. The military company was reportedly targeted by the protesters because it is owned by Israeli defence company Elbit Systems. The activists reportedly believe that Elbit supplies 85 per cent of the Israel Defence Force's drones, and most of their ground military equipment. But the raging protesters were left mortified after the firm's CEO claimed that his company had not produced defence systems for Israel in over 20 years. At least 30 people were arrested following the embarrassing raid, Stop Arming Israel said. Tournai police arrived to the scene supported by Borinage cops who also came with riot control vehicles. A helicopter was also scrambled during the mindless rampage. Some activists fled to neighbouring villages in order to escape, before being chased down by cops. OIP Land Systems has provided defence products to Ukraine on several occasions. The military equipment provided includes Leopard 1 tanks, which are manufactured at the Tournai plant. It comes after two pro-Palestine activists broke into an RAF base and vandalised two planes in a "grotesque" breach of security. The men were seen breaking into RAF Brize Norton in a video shared online by group Palestine Action. The UK's defence ministry slammed the "vandalism of Royal Air Force assets" in a scathing statement.
