US confirms plan for private firms to deliver Gaza aid despite UN alarm

[Twiglets1]

The US has confirmed that a new system for providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza through private companies is being prepared, as Israel's blockade continues for a third month.

US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said "distribution centres" protected by security contractors would provide food and other supplies to over a million people initially, as part of an effort to prevent Hamas stealing aid.

He denied Israel would take part in aid delivery or distribution, but said its forces would secure the centres' perimeters.

It comes as details emerged about the controversial plan, which UN agencies have reiterated they will not co-operate with because it appears to "weaponize" aid.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp92rlm300mo

GHF proves IDF did not shoot at innocent Gazans at aid distribution sites

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution center in Rafah denied on Sunday claims that the IDF attacked a food distribution point near Rafah, contradicting widely circulated Hamas reports.

Security camera footage from Sunday's aid distribution site shows calm civilian activity, with no incidents reported. Aid was delivered without disruption, and the available evidence does not support claims of injuries or fatalities. While some media outlets have reported these allegations, others have contacted the organization to verify the facts, the GHF stated.

The IDF on Sunday denied the reports it fired at civilians near a humanitarian aid distribution site in Gaza, calling the allegations false based on an initial investigation. The IDF emphasized its cooperation with GHF and international aid groups to ensure aid reaches Gaza’s residents — not Hamas. The military accused Hamas of deliberately obstructing food distribution, harming civilians, and using starvation as a tool to maintain control. The IDF also urged media outlets to verify information carefully, warning against reliance on Hamas-sourced claims.

Following the incident, the GHF denied claims of casualties and injuries at the aid distribution sites. "All aid was distributed today without incident. No injuries or fatalities. We have heard that these fake reports have been actively fomented by Hamas. They are untrue and fabricated," GHF noted.

The US-backed group said on Sunday that it had distributed over 4.7 million meals within six days.

"We’re scaling up as quickly as possible, but the truth is stark: for every truck we successfully bring into our network, other humanitarian groups are being looted before reaching those in need."

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-856186

Also being reported by the BBC now that

Israeli military says it did not fire at civilians 'near or within' aid site

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says initial findings show its forces "did not fire at civilians while they were near or within" the aid distribution site.

In a statement, it called reports suggesting otherwise “false” and urged the media to “be cautious" with information published by Hamas.

The IDF says it is still working with the US and the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to get aid to civilians.

Earlier, Gaza’s health ministry, run by Hamas, said at least 31 people were killed and more than 100 injured in an incident at the aid centre in Rafah, southern Gaza.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c628n68zpj6t

IDF denies firing on Gazans at or near aid distribution site, says warning shots were 1km away

The IDF denies opening fire on Palestinians at or near a humanitarian aid distribution site in southern Gaza’s Rafah this morning, after Hamas authorities said 31 were killed and dozens were wounded by Israeli fire in the area.
In a statement, the military slams the “false reports… including serious allegations against the IDF.”

Still, an Israeli military official says that troops did fire warning shots around a kilometer away from the aid site overnight, hours before the facility opened for Palestinians to be handed aid packages.

The official says that “during the night, about a kilometer from the distribution area, and not during the opening hours of the aid distribution site, IDF troops worked to prevent a number of suspects from approaching the forces.”
“During the activity, warning shots were fired at a number of suspects who approached the forces,” the official says, adding that “there is no connection between the incident in question and the false allegations against the IDF.”

After carrying out a preliminary investigation, the military says that it has determined that troops “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 is enabling the American civil organization (GHF) and international aid organizations to distribute aid to the residents of Gaza and not to Hamas,” the military says.

“Hamas does everything in its power to undermine food distribution efforts in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that starves and endangers the population to preserve its control over the Gaza Strip. As part of its brutal behavior and its attempts to disrupt humanitarian aid, Hamas directly harms the residents of Gaza,” the statement continues.

The military also “calls on the media to be cautious with information published by the Hamas terror organization, as proven in several previous incidents.”

www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-denies-firing-on-gazans-at-or-near-aid-distribution-site-says-warning-shots-were-1km-away/

This contradicts what’s in the Times of Israel and CNN:

From TOI:
The Israel Defense Forces issued a vague statement, saying that “at this time, we are unaware of injuries caused by IDF troops’ fire within the [humanitarian aid] distribution site” in Rafah, adding that “the matter is still under review.”
When asked for clarification, the IDF did not explicitly deny that there had been gunfire, but said it was unaware of any injuries “within” the aid site. Witnesses said Israeli forces fired on crowds around a kilometer away from the aid site hours before the distribution took place.

From CNN:
In a brief response to a CNN inquiry, the Israeli military said it was “unaware of injuries caused by IDF fire within the humanitarian aid distribution site.” It later said that “the entire incident is still under investigation” and added “there were no casualties among our forces.”

I wish Israel would allow in independent journalists because just as much we can’t trust Hamas, Israel has not always been thorough at investigating their own mishaps until forced to. For example - we wouldn’t have know the truth about how IDF killed paramedics unless we had the recording of them doing it.

Mishaps?

Yes but that was earlier in the day.

The fuller statement from the IDF came later on today about 5pm and was cited as "breaking news".

There is another possibility that the shooting was not done by Hamas or the IDF:

Gaza in turmoil: Clans emerge as rivals to Hamas's rule

Armed clans are reasserting themselves in the Gaza Strip, challenging Hamas’s authority, particularly in areas where the IDF is conducting operations and Hamas has lost control, senior IDF officials told Walla.

Sources told Saudi-owned site Al Hadath on Sunday that Hamas has lost security control over the Gaza Strip, adding that thieves and gangs seize aid, loot homes, and terrorize residents.

According to a senior IDF officer, these clans act like armed militias, forcibly seizing food, looting warehouses, and shooting to protect their members from Hamas security forces.

www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-856205

I know.. it was meant to be ironic

@Twiglets1 we could start with journalists from a range of countries outside the region affiliated to reputable news agencies. Representatives from peace organisations like ALLMEP. Diplomats from countries with one foot in both camps. You wouldn’t just rely on one group but use a number to get some sort on consensus.

@Twiglets1
An IDF soldier in Rafah contacted the BBC to say that Israeli soldiers did fire near the crowd…

Also from the latest BBC update…

How would an ‘independent journalist’ be vetted to ensure they were not biased to either side do you think, especially considering the standard of reporting and repeating of ‘facts’ from Hamas so far by journalists and media outlets who aren’t even on the ground?

Anti semitism is rampant all around the globe as has been clearly evident since the beginning of this war!

The IDF has allowed military experts in who have given evidence to the ICC and I’d believe them over a proscribed terrorist group and their supporters who cut women’s breasts off while gang raping them, hammered nails into women’s vaginas, cut off children’s body parts while they were still alive, tied children together and burned them to death and cut off a man’s head with a garden hoe while committing genocide on a whole community of kibbutzniks, many of whom were dedicated to peace and worked with the people who betrayed and later horrifically murdered them and their families.

Oh and who took babies, children and the elderly as ‘prisoners of war’.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/retired-generals-to-icc-prosecutor-has-no-evidence-for-allegations-against-israel/amp/

The IDF has maintained that 6 of the ‘paramedics’ were terrorists and they approached the IDF at speed which was the basis for them feeling under threat and that an attack may take place. Other vehicles, including another ambulance, had passed within incident in hour before this incident from the article below. I suppose there’s no way of knowing what the outcome would have been if the IDF didn’t attack, considering there were terrorists in the ambulance?

Hamas and the PIJ are documented as using them as transportation to avoid detection, (even the PLO leader had publicly stated this, video attached) so you can see how this could have happened but disciplinary measures and investigation were undertaken anyway as is correct.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c24q6201d8yo.amp

https://www.memri.org/tv/pa-president-mahmoud-abbas-hamas-leaders-fled-sinai-ambulances-during-israeli-campaign-gaza

https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/04/10/hamas-uses-ambulances-in-combat-the-truth-about-whats-happening-in-gaza/

https://apnews.com/article/hostages-israel-gaza-6eb99b5152f42b94f8bfb50bee96af02

ambulances were also used to move hostages around.

@AIBUHere
There’s a lot of understandable anger about 7/10.

I would not take criticisms of Israel as meaning people are always being antisemitic. I really would hope that the majority of Western journalists genuinely want to report accurately on what they see happening.

Has the IDF given the names and evidence why it believes some of those paramedics it executed belonged to Hamas? Seems convenient to know this detail in the midst of an “operational misunderstanding" and a "breach of orders”

Yes ... the soldier said that shots were fired near the crowd not at the crowd

An IDF soldier in Rafah contacted the BBC to say that Israeli soldiers did fire near the crowd, but not at them, and that no-one was hit.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c991j01lym3o

Yes but you can see that it also contradicts what the IDF is now saying

Why is Hamas always so readily believed, time after time?

How does it?

Ok - I thought the IDF were saying they did not fire any shots. The situation appears to be that they did fire shots then?

I believe they have said they fired warning shots but not at the aid distribution site itself

Where did they fire the warning shots then?

About a kilometre away from what I’ve read at a roundabout… I’ll link it again tomorrow but I’m getting tired now.

It was here where the deaths happened

@AIBUHere

How would an ‘independent journalist’ be vetted to ensure they were not biased to either side do you think, especially considering the standard of reporting and repeating of ‘facts’ from Hamas so far by journalists and media outlets who aren’t even on the ground?
Because any journalist worth their salt follow the journalist code of ethics, despite people's views the reputable msm agencies are balanced in their reporting and don't report anything as "facts" from either side they list their sources and update as soon as more information is available. Tbh I have not heard one argument that convinces me that independent journalists should not get access and yes I am very suspicious as to why they don't.

Warning shots are to disperse a crowd, not to kill people. And if people were shooting to kill that wasn't necessarily the IDF, it could have been Hamas or gangs.

We're going round in circles ... it's really for each of us to form an opinion about what we think most likely happened since there are conflicting reports and denials and no one knows for sure.

@Twiglets1
or fitting the pieces of a jigsaw

Drone footage that was released by the IDF was from a different time and location according to the BBC news this morning

I am sorry to hear about the attack in Colorado.