Israeli soldiers admit to deliberately turning Gaza aid distribution centers into "killing fields"
Gaza City, Gaza - Israeli troops are routinely ordered to deliberately open fire on groups of starving Palestinians gathering at aid distribution centers set up by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to a new report.
Israeli soldiers and army officers speaking to Haaretz admitted that ares around the few centers distributing food to a desperate population have become "a killing field."
After months of a devastating aid blockade on a territory already subjected to apocalyptic levels of death and destruction for almost 21 months, Israel put the widely-discredited GHF in charge of aid Gaza.
The murky organization set up by Israel and the US has neither the experience nor resources for dealing with a situation that is rapidly approaching catastrophic levels of famine, according to the UN. It has been denounced by most established aid groups as a gross violation of humanitarian principles.
Since the first GHF center opened at the end of May, close to 600 Palestinians have been murdered in near-daily massacres as they approach one of the four distribution points, only for Israeli troops and tanks to open fire on them.
This, as military sources told Israeli newspaper Haaretz, is enough of an established policy to have its own codename: "Operation Salted Fish, a reference to the Israeli version of the Green Light, Red Light game played by kids.
"Loss of human life means nothing"
Soldiers said they were ordered to open fire on groups of people before and immediately after the distribution centers open.
"Warning shots" often meant direct shelling of dozens of Palestinians, while aid seekers' inability to follow the confusing and frequently changing rules set out by Israeli forces turned into a death sentence for many.
All those cited by Haaretz denied that the scores upon scores killed in these massacred posed any danger to Israeli soldiers.
"It's become a place with its own set of rules. The loss of human life means nothing. It's not even an 'unfortunate incident,' like they used to say," one reservist told the paper.
While Israel's Military Advocate General has opened an investigation into possible war crimes committed at or near the aid centers, no concrete steps have been taken to stop the killings.
The GHF, meanwhile, is set to receive a multi-million dollar infusion of cash from US President Donald Trump's administration, even as legal and human rights organizations have warned it risks being complicit in crimes against humanity.
Israel faces widespread accusations of genocide in Gaza, where it has killed at least 56,300 people – though the true number is believed to be far higher – and destroyed every facet of Palestinian society.
Cover photo: REUTERS