Jerusalem: Israel’s Military Advocate General has ordered an investigation into possible war crimes over allegations that Israeli forces deliberately fired at Palestinian civilians near Gaza aid distribution sites, Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday.Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed over the past month in the vicinity of areas where food was being handed out, local hospitals and officials have said.Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli newspaper, quoted unnamed Israeli soldiers as saying they were told to fire at the crowds to keep them back, using unnecessary lethal force against people who appeared to pose no threat.The military told Reuters that the Israel Defense Forces had not instructed soldiers to deliberately shoot at civilians. It added that it was looking to improve “the operational response” in the aid areas and had recently installed new fencing and signs, and opened additional routes to reach the handout zones.Haaretz quoted unnamed sources as saying that the army unit established to review incidents that may involve breaches of international law had been tasked with examining soldiers’ actions near aid locations over the past month.The military told Reuters that some incidents were being reviewed by relevant authorities.It added: “Any allegation of a deviation from the law or IDF directives will be thoroughly examined, and further action will be taken as necessary.”There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year-old military campaign by Israel against Hamas militants in Gaza that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble and displaced most of its two million inhabitants.Thousands of people gather around distribution centres desperately awaiting the next deliveries, but there have been near daily reports of shootings and killings on the approach routes. Medics said six people were killed by gunfire on Friday as they sought to get food in the southern Gaza Strip.In all, more than 500 people have died near aid centres operated by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) or in areas where U.N. food trucks were set to pass since late May, the Gaza health authorities have said.which I have unequivocally condemned, Israeli military operations have created a humanitarian crisis of horrific proportions, more dire today than at any point in this long and brutal crisis.During a closed-door meeting with senior Military Advocate General officials this week, legal representatives rejected IDF claims that the incidents were isolated cases, Haaretz reported.There has been widespread confusion about access to the aid, with the army imposing for a time a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on approach routes to GHF sites. But locals often have to set out well before dawn to have any chance of retrieving food.In a statement late on Friday, a GHF spokesperson said there had been no incidents or fatalities to date at or in the immediate vicinity of its distribution sites. The statement said the IDF is tasked with providing safe passage for aid-seekers to all humanitarian organizations operating in Gaza, including GHF.
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