Israeli soldiers have deliberately shot at unarmed Palestinians seeking aid in Gaza after being “ordered” to do so by their commanders, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports.

Israel ordered an investigation into possible war crimes over the allegations by some soldiers that it revealed on Friday, Haaretz said.

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At least 549 Palestinians have been killed and 4,066 injured while waiting for food aid distributed at sites run by the Israeli-and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the Gaza Government Media Office said on Thursday. The GHF has been a source of widespread criticism since its establishment in May.

According to the Haaretz report, which quoted unnamed Israeli soldiers, troops were told to fire at the crowds of Palestinians and use unnecessary lethal force against people who appeared to pose no threat.

“We fired machineguns from tanks and threw grenades,” one soldier told Haaretz. “There was one incident where a group of civilians was hit while advancing under the cover of fog.”

In another instance, a soldier said that where they were stationed in Gaza, between “one and five people were killed every day”.

“It’s a killing field,” that soldier said.

Method of ‘control’

The Israeli army “strongly rejected” the accusations in the report, according to a military statement published on Telegram. “Any allegation of a deviation from the law or [military] directives will be thoroughly examined, and further action will be taken as necessary. The allegations of deliberate fire toward civilians presented in the article are not recognized in the field,” it said.

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According to Haaretz, the Military Advocate General has told the army’s General Staff’s Fact-Finding Assessment Mechanism, which reviews incidents involving potential violations of the laws of war, to investigate suspected war crimes at these aid sites.

One of the authors of the report, Nir Hasson, told Al Jazeera that the Israeli directive to fire on civilians is part of a method to “control” the aid seekers.

“It’s actually a practice of … controlling the crowd by fire, like if you wanted the crowd to run off [from] a place, you shoot them at them, even though you know they are unarmed … You use fire to move people from one point to another,” he said from West Jerusalem.

While the journalist and his colleagues do not know the name of the commander who might have issued such a directive, Hasson said that he would likely hold a position high up in the army.

Despite this practice at these sites, most Israelis and the army’s troops still believe the war on Gaza is just, even while some cracks are emerging in this understanding, the journalist said.

“[There are] more and more people who are asking themselves if this war is necessary, but also what is the humanitarian price the Gazan population is [paying] for this war,” he said.

‘A death trap’

“War crimes” are taking place at GHF aid distribution sites in Gaza, the enclave’s Government Media Office said in a statement, referencing “the shocking confessions” published by Haaretz.

“The report’s direct military orders to fire on unarmed civilians who pose no threat, and the use of heavy machine guns, artillery, and shells against peaceful gatherings waiting for food, are further evidence that the Israeli occupation army is pursuing a systematic policy of genocide under the false guise of ‘relief’,” the statement added.

Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said the Haaretz report is “shocking”.

“People in Gaza have said these distribution centres have now become a death trap for Palestinians,” Salhut said. “Aid groups have said that Palestinians are left with no choice – to either starve to death, or die seeking the very little food that is offered in the distribution centres run by the GHF.”

The GHF operates four sites in Gaza – one in the centre and three in the south – and attacks on aid seekers have only increased since an Israeli blockade was lifted and the Foundation started distributing food at the end of May.

On Friday, medics said six people were killed by gunfire as they tried to get food in southern Gaza.

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The GHF has come under intense condemnation by aid groups, including the United Nations, for its “weaponisation” of vital items.

“We don’t need a report of that nature to acknowledge that there have been massive violations of international law [in Gaza],” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in response to a question from Al Jazeera about the Haaretz report. “And when there is a violation of international law, there must be accountability,” he added at a press conference in New York.

Elsewhere on Friday, medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials, MSF, called the GHF’s aid distribution sites “slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid”.

Since Israel began its war on Gaza in October 2023, at least 56,331 people have been killed, with 132,632 wounded in Israeli attacks, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported.