Israeli forces fired at Palestinians seeking aid; health officials say dozens are dead

Following Sunday’s incident, an Israeli military official told NBC News that soldiers fired warning shots “toward several suspects” about a half-mile from an aid distribution center, but they maintained that there was no connection between this and what they described as “false claims” made against the military.

In a statement issued Monday, the GHF maintained “there were no injuries, fatalities or incidents” during their operations Sunday.

“We have yet to see any concrete evidence that there was an attack at or near our facility yesterday and that evidence-based reporting should be at least the minimum requirement for news outlets,” GHF said.

In its statement on Tuesday’s incident, the IDF said it allowed GHF to operate independently in order to enable the distribution of aid to Palestinian residents in Gaza “and not to Hamas,” repeating a claim of Hamas diverting aid from civilians that Israeli officials have cited as being a key reason for introducing the new system — as well as for its 11-week aid blockade that it lifted last month.

Aid groups, including the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, have previously told NBC News that they have not seen instances of aid being diverted to Hamas during the war in Gaza.