Israeli military orders war crime probe into Gaza shootings, paper says

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel's Military Advocate General has ordered an investigation into possible war crimes over allegations that Israeli forces deliberately fired at Palestinian civilians near Gaza aid distribution sites, Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed over the past month in the vicinity of areas where food was being handed out, local hospitals and officials have said.

Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli newspaper, quoted unnamed Israeli soldiers as saying they were told to fire at the crowds to keep them back and using unnecessary lethal force against people who appeared to pose no threat.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for a comment from Reuters about the report.

Haaretz quoted a military spokesperson as saying that the army was trying to minimise potential friction between the population and Israeli forces, adding that following reports of civilian harm, the army had conducted investigations and given new instructions to ground forces.

Haaretz also quoted unnamed sources as saying that the army unit established to review incidents that may involve breaches of international law had been tasked with examining soldiers' actions near distribution locations over the past month.

There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year-old military campaign by Israel against Hamas militants in Gaza that has reduced much of the enclave to rubble and displaced most of its two million inhabitants.

Thousands of people gather around distribution centres desperately awaiting the next deliveries, but there have been near daily reports of shootings and killings on the approach routes. Medics said six people were killed by gunfire on Friday as they sought to get food in southern Gaza Strip.

In all, more than 500 people have died near aid centres operated by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) or in areas where U.N. food trucks were set to pass since late May, the Gaza health authorities have said.

In response to questions about previous incidents, the Israel military often said troops had fired warning shots over the heads of people to get them to move. It has also said it is reviewing various cases. It has yet to publish its findings.

The unnamed Israeli soldiers told Haaretz that military commanders had ordered troops to shoot at the crowds of Palestinians to disperse them and clear the area.

During a closed-door meeting with senior Military Advocate General officials this week, legal representatives rejected Israel Defense Forces claims that the incidents were isolated cases, Haaretz reported.

There has been widespread confusion about access to the aid, with the army imposing for a time a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on approach routes to GHF sites. But locals often have to set out well before dawn to have any chance of retrieving food.

The Gaza war began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage into the enclave.

In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to local health authorities in Gaza.

The Gaza health ministry said on Friday that at least 72 people were killed and more than 170 wounded by Israeli fire across Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Howard Goller)