Israel Denies Report Alleging IDF Ordered To Shoot Unarmed Gazans; UN Flags Health Crisis In Gaza
Israel denies claims IDF was ordered to shoot unarmed Gazans seeking aid. UN warns of rising diseases and casualties in Gaza due to lack of water, sanitation, fuel, and continued airstrikes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz on Friday, in a joint statement, dismissed a write-up in a publication which claimed that IDF soldiers have been ordered to shoot unarmed Gazans waiting for humanitarian assistance.
A statement read: "The State of Israel absolutely rejects the contemptible blood libels that have been published in the Ha'aretz newspaper, according to which 'IDF Soldiers Ordered to Shoot Deliberately at Unarmed Gazans Waiting for Humanitarian Aid'."
The statement mentioned that the 'claims' as 'malicious falsehoods designed to defame the IDF, the most moral military in the world'.
"The IDF operates in difficult conditions against a terrorist enemy that operates out of a civilian population and hides behind it, using it as human shields, and uses a complete industry of lies to harm the legitimacy of the State of Israel.
"The soldiers of the IDF receive clear orders to avoid harming innocents – and operate accordingly," the statement read.
Israel calls on all of the free and democratic countries to stand alongside it in its just and moral fight against the murderous Hamas terrorist organization, the statement mentioned.
UN humanitarians said that its partners delivering health aid in Gaza reported a spike in preventable diseases linked to a lack of clean water, sanitation and fuel.
Meanwhile, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that in the last two weeks, more than 19,000 cases of acute watery diarrhea were recorded, alongside more than 200 cases each of acute jaundice syndrome and bloody diarrhea, Xinhua news agency reported.
"These outbreaks are directly linked to the lack of clean water and sanitation in Gaza, underscoring the urgent need for fuel, medical supplies, and water, sanitation and hygiene items to prevent further collapse of the public health system," the humanitarians said.
The partners also reported yet another mass casualty incident for Al Aqsa Hospital following an airstrike in Deir al-Balah.
They said the hospital received more than 20 people killed and 70 others injured. Additional wounded patients had to be transferred to Nasser Medical Complex and two other health facilities.
"Civilians in Gaza continue to be killed or injured daily, whether in Israeli airstrikes, shelling, or while trying to find food for their families," said OCHA. "These tragic events must not be normalized and must come to an immediate end."
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