Dozens of people were killed across the Gaza Strip on Monday, including at least 11 in the area of a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution center, according to local Palestinian media outlets. The IDF said it fired at terror targets in northern Gaza.

Also Monday, the military admitted in a statement that it has killed several civilians near aid sites in recent weeks and said it has learned lessons that will avoid similar incidents in the future.

No footage of Monday’s reported shooting incident near the GHF site has yet been published, though videos claiming to show those wounded in the incident receiving treatment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis were posted to social media.

The IDF did not issue a response to reports of Monday’s incident and the GHF told The Times of Israel it was unaware of any shooting incidents near its sites.

There have been repeated instances of Palestinians being shot near aid distribution sites. The IDF has said it is investigating, and denied that troops are ordered to open fire on civilians.

On Monday afternoon, the IDF released a statement acknowledging that Palestinian civilians have been killed and injured by its fire near aid distribution sites, including by artillery fire, but claimed that the tolls provided by Hamas authorities are exaggerated.

The military also announced that it “reorganized the access routes” to the humanitarian hubs, adding new fencing and signage along with additional paths to the aid sites.

The statement came days after the Haaretz daily reported that the military launched a probe last week into potential war crimes committed by its troops. It quoted unidentified soldiers as saying that the aid sites were like a “killing field” and that they were ordered to treat the aid seekers like combatants, using heavy live fire for crowd control.

The Haaretz report drew a first detailed response from the military regarding the near-daily deadly shootings around aid distribution sites, but the IDF vociferously denied that troops are being ordered by commanders to deliberately open fire on the Palestinian civilians.

According to the military, troops on the ground have only used live gunfire when a threat was posed to them, including when dozens of suspects approached forces outside of the designated routes to the aid sites operated by the Israel- and US-backed GHF, or outside........

© The Times of Israel