The IDF announced on Tuesday that earlier in the morning, during the movement of the crowd along the designated routes toward the aid distribution site, approximately half a kilometer from the site, IDF troops identified several suspects moving toward them, deviating from the designated access routes.
The troops carried out warning fire, and after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claimed that 24 individuals were killed and 200 were injured in the incident. The IDF noted that it is aware of reports regarding casualties, and the details of the incident are being looked into.
The IDF stated that it allows the American Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) to operate independently in order to enable the distribution of aid to the Gazan residents, and not to Hamas.
"IDF troops are not preventing the arrival of Gazan civilians to the humanitarian aid distribution sites," the IDF stated.
It emphasized that the warning shots were fired approximately half a kilometer away from the humanitarian aid distribution site toward several suspects who advanced toward the troops in such a way that posed a threat to them.
Earlier in the week, Palestinian Arab reports, echoed by international media, claimed that the IDF had shot at civilians at an aid site, killing over 30 and wounding numerous others. However, footage published by the GHF and an IDF inquiry debunked the claims.
Later, the IDF published footage showing armed and masked individuals hurling rocks and firing at Gazan civilians attempting to collect looted humanitarian aid in southern Khan Yunis.
“Hamas is a brutal and murderous terrorist organization that is starving the residents of Gaza. Hamas is doing everything in its power to prevent the successful distribution of food in Gaza,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement.