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Key Points
- Israel admits civilians were harmed at Gaza aid sites and updates military rules.
- UN calls US-backed aid plan “inherently unsafe” and blames it for civilian deaths.
- Investigation has been launched into claims Israeli forces fired on crowds near distribution points.
It followed a Friday report in the newspaper Haaretz that Israel’s Military Advocate General had ordered an investigation into possible war crimes over allegations that Israeli forces deliberately fired at Palestinian civilians near the sites.
A senior UN official said on Sunday that the majority of people killed were trying to reach aid distribution sites of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Many Gazans say they have to walk for hours to reach the sites, meaning they must start travelling well before dawn if they are to stand any chance of receiving food.
Aid operation ‘inherently unsafe’, UN says
“Any operation that channels desperate civilians into militarised zones is inherently unsafe. It is killing people,” Guterres told reporters.
Palestinians pray over thebodies of those killed while seeking aid as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that the US-backed aid operation in Gaza is “killing people.” Source: Getty / Dawoud Abo Alkas
Responding to Guterres on Friday, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said its military never targets civilians and accused the UN of “doing everything it can” to oppose the GHF aid operation.
