Footage appears to contradict Hamas claims of IDF shooting Gazans at aid sites

Video clip released by IDF spokesman shows Israeli soldiers holding their fire as Gazans mob aid site, appear to cheer IDF soldiers.

By World Israel News Staff

The IDF released video footage Sunday night from a humanitarian aid drop in the Gaza Strip, showing a crowd of Gazans rushing to take food while appearing to cheer the IDF soldiers securing the perimeter.

The video, released by the Israeli military’s top Arabic spokesman, Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, was released following repeated claims made by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry accusing IDF soldiers of gunning down hundreds of civilians in and around aid distribution sites in recent weeks.

“Thus fell all of Hamas’s lies,” Adraee wrote.

The video, he added, was filmed on Sunday afternoon as a crowd of civilians mobbed an aid drop-off. Soldiers securing the area were instructed not to fire.

Gazans scrambling for food at the aid drop-off site can be seen turning around to face the IDF soldiers and cheering them.

“Defense Army soldiers stand steadfast…And just meters away – crowds of Gaza residents receive the humanitarian aid that entered the Gaza Strip,” according to the video.

“Not a single bullet was fired. The decision was clear: Do not open fire. As for the Palestinians’ reaction? It was not fear… but hope. The civilians began welcoming and cheering for our soldiers As if they saw in them life after darkness,” it continues.

“Those who lived under Hamas’s lies know that our soldiers and our presence are a source of hope. No starvation, no deliberate killing, no intentional targeting of those awaiting aid.

“There is Hamas propaganda with empty media megaphones promoting lies to save what remains of the defeated Hamas.”

The IDF has sought to push back against claims by Hamas of indiscriminate shootings at Gazans waiting for aid.

On Sunday, the Hamas-run health ministry said 73 people were killed while waiting for relief drop-offs that day, with more than 150 wounded. Israeli forces, Hamas claimed, were responsible for the casualties, allegedly opening fire on mobs outside distribution sites.

However, the IDF has rejected the Hamas-run ministry’s statements, calling them propaganda.

After Hamas claimed 27 were killed and 180 wounded by IDF gunfire at an aid depot near Rafah earlier this month, an Israeli military investigation found no evidence of casualties resulting from shooting by IDF soldiers.

In other instances, the IDF has acknowledged soldiers fired warning shots after large mobs approached IDF positions, while emphasizing that the “reported number of casualties does not align with” the information at hand.

Aid workers have accused Hamas of instigating violence at some Gaza aid sites, including stabbing one person to death at a Khan Yunis aid site last Wednesday and causing a stampede that left 19 more dead.