firing-on-civilians-gaza-dismisses-israeli-video

The Gaza government-run media office on Sunday debunked what it called a ‘fabricated’ video, released by the Israeli forces to conceal the killing of 31 aid-seekers and wounding 200 others at a distribution site in Rafah.

 

The office released a statement condemning the Israeli military’s ‘blatant and exposed attempt’ to clear itself of accountability for the deaths at the controversial Israeli-American aid distribution centre.

 

The Israeli military tried to indict Hamas for shooting at the civilians searching for food in Gaza; however, Gaza authorities dismissed it as part of a calculated misinformation campaign.

 

“The timing of the video’s release, after 15 hours from when the actual event took place, shows a clear manipulation to absolve the (Israeli) occupation and confirms it's a deliberate media effort unrelated to the truth," the office said, questioning why the footage wasn't released immediately if a drone recorded the event.

 

This is not the first time that Israeli forces have shot aid-seekers; they have been doing this since the early days of the Gaza invasion, killing scores of people over the pretext of restoring order in the distribution centres.

 

Meanwhile, relating to the recent incident, the field evidence and testimonies from the survivors make it clear that the Israeli military was disseminating fake narratives surrounding the incident, the statement added.

 

"Dozens of bodies lay on the ground, with direct head, chest, and abdominal injuries from Israeli gunfire targeting civilians," the office said. The video, purportedly from eastern Khan Younis rather than western Rafah, where the aid centre was located, exposed Israel's deception, the office said.

 

The office questioned the credibility of the video for showing the aid centre distributing the flour, even though the so-called controversial ‘Israeli-American humanitarian aid’ centres do not distribute flour at all, but instead, aid stolen from international organisations such as the Rahma Foundation.

 

"Israeli soldiers fired on hungry crowds. The Rafah massacres are documented evidence of collective killing, not excused by a misleading, empty video," it added.

 

Since May 27, Israel has implemented a controversial aid distribution plan through the Israeli-American ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’, bypassing the UN and international relief agencies.