Israel’s army received explicit orders to shoot Palestinians in humanitarian aid centers

In recent weeks, the number of deaths in food distribution areas in Gaza increased dramatically. There were 57 on June 11, 59 on June 17, and 50 on Tuesday (24), according to the Ministry of Health in the 365 km range with more than 2 million inhabitants. The Hareetz newspaper of Israel has found that the army of its country deliberately shot in Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid in these places.

Currently, in Gaza, there are four distribution centers protected by the defense forces of Israel (FDI) and managed by US and Palestinians. They are controlled by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), created by Israel with US support, and began operating in the track in May of that year. The organization is known by US evangelicals near Trump and Netanyahu and has contracts with uncommon companies.

In the context of full blockade of Gaza, in which Israel prevents food and other subsistence products in the region, the hope of Palestinians lies in these centers so that they can frequently feed during the genocide perpetrated by the Jewish state. It is estimated that tens of thousands of inhabitants of the track go to these places every day.

The problem, besides management, is that there is no consistency in the distribution centers. Palestinians do not know when they open, and the time can change overnight. They are still an hour open a day, and nothing more. Mountains of people end up forming in the hope of arriving before food is over.

A Haaretz heard from the cruelty perpetrated in these centers: “At the beginning of the month, there were some cases where a message went around saying that the center would open in the afternoon, and people appeared early in the morning to be the first in line of food. Because they arrived very early, the distribution was canceled that day.”

19 shootings were recorded in these centers by the Israeli press in the last year. “It’s a killing field,” said another soldier. “Where I was parked, between one and five people were murdered every day. They are filed as a hostile force. There are no multitudes control measures, nor tear gas. Only open fire with everything possible: heavy machine guns, gun throw and mortar. And when the center opens, the shooting ends, and they know they can approach.

“Gaza doesn’t matter to anyone else,” said a reservist who completed a week of service in the north of the track this week. “It has become a place with its own rules. Human loss of life means nothing else. They are no more” unfortunate incidents, “as they used to say.”

Brigadier General Yehuda Vach had his name quoted several times in the testimonies of the shootings in humanitarian aid centers. He was responsible for turning the Netzarim corridor, which separates northern from the center of Gaza, into a deadly and impenetrable route to the Palestinians and was also suspected of having a hospital destroyed in the track without any authorization.

A vach division officer said the decision to open fire in Palestinians waiting for UN trucks. “This is Vach’s policy, but many of the commanders and soldiers accepted it without question. The Palestinians should not be there, so the idea is to leave the space empty, even if they are just looking for food.”

In a recent case, some people began to flee a center after warning shots, but a soldier said the Israeli forces continued throwing them. “If it’s a warning shot, and we see people coming back to Gaza, why keep shooting them?” He wonders. “Sometimes we hear that they are hiding, and that we need to shoot their directions because they have not left yet. But it is obvious that they cannot escape if we shoot when they get up.”