JNS
The foundation said that it is taking legal action against the “Associated Press” over the report, which it said cited a former, disgruntled employee.
American contractors protecting humanitarian aid distribution sites have used live ammunition, stun grenades and pepper spray against Gazans seeking food, according to an Associated Press report, based on interviews with and photos and videos provided by two unnamed contractors for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The two contractors told the AP that heavily-armed security agents are hired without proper vetting and rules of engagement, and video footage that one provided purports to show scenes from foundation aid sites, with bullets and stun grenades audible and English conversations about using gunfire to disperse crowds.
A spokesperson for Safe Reach Solutions, the foundation’s logistics subcontractor, told the AP that there have been no serious injuries at any of its sites and that gunfire was used in the chaotic early days of distribution only fired at the ground, and away from aid-seekers, to get their attention.
On Thursday afternoon in Israel, the foundation stated that it launched “an immediate investigation when the Associated Press first brought these allegations to our attention.”
“Based on time-stamped video footage and sworn witness statements, we have concluded that the claims in the AP’s story are categorically false,” the foundation stated. “At no point were civilians under fire at a GHF distribution site. The gunfire heard in the video was confirmed to have originated from the IDF, who was outside the immediate vicinity of the GHF distribution site.”
“It was not directed at individuals, and no one was shot or injured,” the foundation said.
“What is most troubling is that the AP refused to share the full video with us prior to publication, despite the seriousness of the allegations,” the foundation said. “If they believed their own reporting, they should have provided us with the footage so we could take immediate and appropriate action.”
The foundation added that the story’s primary source is “a disgruntled former contractor, who was terminated for misconduct weeks before this article was published.”
“That fact, combined with the AP’s refusal to engage in good faith prior to publication, undermines the credibility of their reporting,” it stated. “Their coverage of our aid operations has increasingly echoed narratives advanced by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health. In response, we are pursuing legal action.”
The foundation said that it takes safety and security “extremely seriously” and “when behavior falls short of our standards, we act.”
“The contractor seen shouting in the video was removed from our operations,” it said. “We remain focused on delivering food to the people of Gaza safely, directly, and without interference. That mission is too important to be derailed by misinformation.”
The U.S. State Department recently announced a $30 million grant to the foundation, with the potential for further investment, and has repeatedly vouched for its effectiveness in delivering aid as an alternative to the United Nations, which Washington says has allowed for Hamas to control and loot aid.
A senior State Department official said earlier this week that the United Nations has an “institutional interest” in lying about the foundation, which is seen as a competitor to the U.N. “monopolistic” hold over Gazan aid.
The U.S. official also noted that none of the reports about massacres by the Israeli military against aid-seeking Gazans near foundation sites has been verified or corroborated by any video, despite omnipresence of smartphones in Gaza.
One of the videos provided to the AP indicates that an aid-seeker had potentially been shot based on the accompanying audio, the video is obscured.
The report also contains assertions that the Israeli military is using facial recognition software at foundation sites and processing the images from the Israeli side of the Gaza border. Israel denied that allegation to the AP.
