After repeated shootings near Gaza aid distribution site, Israel slams UN chief's demand for investigation for failing to mention Hamas

Following shooting incidents near an aid distribution center in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday and Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was appalled at reports of Palestinian deaths and called for an investigation. 

"I am appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza yesterday. It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food," Guterres said in a statement following the reports. 

"I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable,” he stated, without assigning blame for the incident. 

International news organizations reported widely on the first shooting incident on Sunday, in which 24 people were killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, who blamed the IDF for shooting at the civilians. 

Following the incident, the IDF denied reports that it had fired on Gaza residents near the humanitarian aid distribution site. The military called on media organizations to be cautious with information published by Hamas. 

“Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that starves and endangers the population in order 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 IDF said in a statement at the time. 

Later, the military produced drone footage showing masked gunmen firing at Gaza civilians who were attempting to collect looted humanitarian aid in southern Khan Younis, as an example of how Hamas sometimes fires on Gaza civilians. 

The U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is managing the aid distribution in Gaza, denied that the shooting had taken place near its distribution centers. 

On Monday, following similar reports of another shooting incident near aid distribution sites, the GHF said that aid distribution took place without incident, and that it had given out “21 truckloads of food this morning, totaling 20,160 boxes.” 

The GHF said it was aware of Palestinian reports of casualties in shooting attacks, and an IDF investigation into a number of people who were “injured after moving beyond the designated safe corridor and into a closed military zone.” 

The GHF said the incident happened “well beyond our secure distribution site and operations area.” 

On Tuesday morning, the IDF acknowledged firing on several suspects moving toward its positions outside the GHF distribution zone, and “deviating from the designated access routes.” 

“The troops carried out warning fire, and after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops,” the military said in a statement. 

The military denied it was “preventing the arrival of Gazan civilians to the humanitarian aid distribution sites.” 

“The warning shots were fired approximately half a kilometer away from the humanitarian aid distribution site toward several suspects who advanced toward the troops in such a way that posed a threat to them,” the statement continued. 

Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein slammed the UN secretary General’s failure to mention Hamas in his call for an investigation. 

“Even if you look very hard, there’s one word you won’t find in the Secretary-General’s statement: Hamas,” Marmorstein wrote on 𝕏, in a response to Guterrres. 

“Not a word about the fact that Hamas is the one shooting civilians and trying to prevent them from collecting aid packages.” 

What a disgrace.
Even if you look very hard, there’s one word you won’t find in the Secretary-General’s statement: Hamas.
Not a word about the fact that Hamas is the one shooting civilians and trying to prevent them from collecting aid packages.
Not a word about the fact that… pic.twitter.com/YEnNaDWdKD

— Oren Marmorstein (@OrenMarmorstein) June 2, 2025

On Monday morning, the Center for Peace Communications, an organization dedicated to to improving relations between Israelis and Palestinians, posted a video testimony of a Gaza resident claiming that Hamas was responsible for shooting at the Gazans seeking aid. 

"Hamas attacked queues of people waiting to receive aid from the American company in Gaza ... while on social media, Hamas threatens and incites against those who receive American aid."

An eye witness to tragedy in southern Gaza speaks out.

Watch: pic.twitter.com/a6E5fl8yVz

— Center for Peace Communications (@PeaceComCenter) June 2, 2025

The witness said that “Hamas would rather we die of hunger than let the American aid distribution mechanism succeed.” 

The witness said that Hamas has been using humanitarian aid as a means to pressure, exploit, and control the population of Gaza for the 18 years it has been in control of the enclave.