Israel slams 'fake' reporting of attack near aid distribution centre in Gaza

New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) Amidst the ongoing face-off in Gaza, a humanitarian aid distribution centre in Southern Gaza’s Rafah came under fire on Sunday, resulting in the death of more than 30 Palestinians. Gaza was quick to pin blame on Israel for ‘killing innocents’ but the latter dismissed the claims as plain lies and also accused Hamas of colluding with major news portals like Al Jazeera and BBC to fan a fake propaganda.

Hamas accused Israeli forces of committing a ‘new massacre’ against hungry civilians in the name of humanitarian aid, however, Israel dismissed the claims of Israeli tanks hitting the civilians as ‘100 per cent fake’.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which supervises humanitarian efforts in the war-torn region, also dismissed the reports of mass killings at its aid distribution centre as ‘untrue and fabricated’ and said that rumours were actively fomented for disturbing and derailing its efforts.

Israel Ambassador to India Reuven Azar took to X to call out Hamas’ desperate attempts to discredit GHF’s humanitarian efforts by making false claims and accused the news publications of ‘promoting unsubstantiated claims’.

“Hamas, together with its accomplices Al Jazeera and BBC World, are spreading yet another blood libel in order to undermine true humanitarian efforts in Gaza,” he wrote in a post on X.

The GHF, backed by the United States and Israel, said that there was a concerted and coordinated campaign by some media outlets to promote falsehoods and misinformation.

“Major news outlets that are relying on unverified and unsubstantiated reports,” the GHF said in an official statement.

“We are observing coordinated efforts every day that instigate false narratives and distort media coverage around the operations of our distribution sites. Unfortunately, some media outlets are reporting on these falsehoods and misinformation without verifying the validity of the reports,” it added.

Setting records straight on aid distribution in war-affected zones, the GHF said, “Over 4.7 million meals have been distributed in six days” and added that operations will continue scaling, with plans to build additional sites across Gaza, including in the northern region.

GHF interim executive director John Acree also shed light on the challenges faced by the team providing humanitarian relief.

“For every truck we successfully bring into our network, other humanitarian groups are being looted before reaching those in need. Despite these conditions, our team is managing massive, desperate crowds without a single casualty,” he pointed out.

Notably, Al Jazeera, in its article titled ‘Israel kills 32 Palestinians waiting for food at US-backed Gaza aid sites’, reported that Israeli tanks opened fire at people lined up at the humanitarian aid distribution site, operated by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), while BBC also reported about mass deaths.

--IANS

mr/uk