https://www.nationalreview.com/news/theres-no-evidence-idf-attacked-gaza-aid-center-u-s-media-ran-with-the-hamas-claim-anyway/?utm_medium=email&_
Over the weekend, media outlets including CNN, CBS, and ABC uncritically amplified Hamas’s claims that Israeli forces opened fire near a Gaza aid distribution center, killing dozens and injuring hundreds of others.
According to officials from the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 31 people were killed and 170 wounded on Sunday when Israeli forces opened fire on civilians massing near an aid site run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Israel immediately denied it was behind the attack and released drone footage of unidentified masked men shooting unarmed civilians near the aid center.
“Findings from an initial inquiry indicate that the IDF did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false,” the IDF said in a statement.
“The IDF is cooperating with the GHF and international aid organizations in order to enable the distribution of aid to the Gazan residents — and not to Hamas.”
The IDF did acknowledge firing warning shots in an effort to maintain order at the aid site, but says no one was hit.
Curiously, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the organization running the distribution center, insists nothing happened at all, releasing a statement Sunday saying that food had been “distributed today without incident.”
“We are aware of rumors being actively fomented by Hamas suggesting deaths and injuries today. They are untrue and fabricated,” the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said.
It’s not entirely clear what happened, but it’s worth noting that Hamas aggressively opposes the distribution of aid by organizations that it does not control.