Israel on Monday called a demand by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for an investigation into alleged deadly violence at a Gaza humanitarian aid site a “disgrace.”
Guterres had said he was “appalled” by reports that Palestinians were killed on Sunday on their way to a distribution site for aid, adding that the United Nations must be allowed to provide aid to Gazans, and that there was no military solution to the conflict in Gaza.
Ever since the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing much-needed food inside the Gaza Strip last week, Hamas-controlled authorities have repeatedly claimed that dozens of people were being shot amid violence at the GHF sites. The GHF has been emphatic that the claims are false and accuses the Hamas terror group of attempting to undermine its aid distribution by spreading panic.
“Even if you look very hard, there’s one word you won’t find in the secretary-general’s statement: Hamas,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein wrote on X.
“Not a word about the fact that Hamas is the one shooting civilians and trying to prevent them from collecting aid packages,” he said, referring to footage showing such incidents.
“Not a word about the fact that Hamas — as stated by US Special Envoy [Steve] Witkoff — rejected yet another ceasefire proposal and the release of the hostages,” he added.
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 GHF distribution site in the southern Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces said it didn’t shoot Gazans at or near the distribution site and denounced the allegations as false, though an Israeli military official acknowledged that troops did fire warning shots overnight around a kilometer away from the aid site.
A GHF spokesperson on Sunday accused Hamas of circulating “fake reports,” saying: “All aid was distributed today without incident.”
The GHF published videos ostensibly showing that no Palestinian civilians were shot at the site. “Reports of injuries and fatalities are completely false and fabricated,” the organization said, attaching around 15 minutes of footage from the distribution site after dawn.
Israel and the United States say they helped establish the new aid distribution system to circumvent Hamas, which they accuse of siphoning off the supplies.
UN agencies have refused to work with the GHF system, which they say violates humanitarian principles.
Marmorstein said 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.”
Guterres said in his statement: “I am appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza yesterday. It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food.
“I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.”
IDF spokesman Effie Defrin said Sunday that “Hamas is doing its best, its utmost, to stop us from” distributing aid, and vowed to “investigate each one of those allegations” against Israeli troops.
War in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, and saw 251 abducted as hostages to the Palestinian enclave. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, topple its regime, and bring home the hostages, of whom 57 remain in captivity (along with the body of an IDF soldier held since 2014).
Under pressure from allies, Israel last month began allowing some humanitarian aid into Gaza after blocking all food, medicine, fuel, and other goods from entering since March 2, a move Jerusalem said was aimed at pressuring Hamas into releasing hostages.
The GHF said that as of Monday, it had distributed more than 5.8 million meals’ worth of food from its centers.
The UN has warned that the entire population is at risk of famine, and has also reported recent incidents of aid being looted, including by armed individuals.
Talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire have so far failed to produce a breakthrough.