SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced a report of one of his country's most prominent news outlets. It quotes unnamed Israeli soldiers saying they were ordered to deliberately shoot at Palestinians trying to get food from distribution sites in Gaza. Over 500 Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded in shootings near those sites, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Netanyahu says the report by Haaretz contains, quote, "malicious falsehoods." NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi joins us from Tel Aviv. Hadeel, thanks for being with us.
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, BYLINE: Thank you. Good morning.
SIMON: And let us begin with what the report says that an Israeli soldiers they talked to called these food distribution sites, quote, "killing fields." Why?
AL-SHALCHI: So just for context, Haaretz is one of Israel's respected left-leaning news sources that's known for investigating the Israeli military and government. Now, NPR cannot independently confirm Haaretz's reporting. But in the story they released yesterday, Haaretz says it spoke to a number of unnamed Israeli soldiers and military officers who described fatal scenes near food distribution sites of an organization called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - or GHF - and the Israeli army is meant to keep those sites secure. One soldier, for example, in the report, said that Palestinians coming to receive the food were treated like a hostile force, that Israeli troops were told to fire at them with heavy machine guns or mortars to drive them away, that even if there was no danger to the Israeli soldiers, they'd still shoot, that troops would charge at civilians from close range. And the soldiers said that they weren't aware of any return of fire. The report also alleges that the Israeli military advocate general has called for a war crimes investigation at those sites.
SIMON: And, of course, NPR has been reporting on the killings near those GHF sites. How does this Haaretz report fit in?
AL-SHALCHI: You're right. So we've been following the story of these sites since they opened up in May. After almost three months of a total Israeli blockade on aid into Gaza, the Israeli government gave GHF the task of distributing food. That's 'cause Israel blames Hamas for stealing aid, even though the United Nations has said that there's been little diversion. Now, GHF operates four sites, and Palestinians have told us about the utter chaos they run into and the fatal danger when trying to get this food. We also know from organizations like the International Red Cross that its field hospitals have received wounded killed from these sites. So now, for the first time, the Haaretz report alleges to show the point of view of the Israeli soldiers, and their testimonies matches much of what Palestinians have told us about what goes on around those sites. And GHF said that it, quote, is "not aware" of the incidents in the Haaretz report, but did call on Israel to investigate them.
SIMON: And how does Israel's government respond?
AL-SHALCHI: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's defense minister released a statement yesterday. They rejected the Haaretz report, calling it blood libel. Netanyahu said that it was designed to defame what he called the most moral military in the world. The Israeli military also rejected the report, saying it had not instructed its soldiers to deliberately shoot at civilians and that it was, quote, examining reports of "incidents of harm" to civilians.
SIMON: And, Hadeel, what else do we know about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation?
AL-SHALCHI: So GHF is a little bit of a murky background. We know that the United Nations and other aid organizations refuse to cooperate with it, saying it breaks humanitarian laws, weaponizes aid. It's also unclear where GHF gets the majority of its funding, but this week, the U.S. State Department said it would give it $30 million - that's the first known U.S. government funding by GHF. Palestinians have no other choice but to go to these sites for food. Israel has restricted organizations like the U.N. from distributing aid, and we know that convoys that do get in are usually looted by armed gangs, which Israel blames on Hamas.
SIMON: NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Tel Aviv. Thanks so much.
AL-SHALCHI: You're very welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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