Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):https://medium.com/media/ca1003a5ea39d153518e870322970799/hrefAt the beginning of this month, Israel and its apologists ferociously denied claims that IDF troops had fired upon civilians seeking aid at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) site, killing 31 people.On the second of June, Israeli forces again opened fire on civilians seeking aid in Gaza, killing three people and injuring more than 30.On June 3, Israeli forces again opened fire on civilians seeking aid, reportedly killing at least 27 people.The US/Israeli-backed GHF temporarily suspended operations after this spate of mass shootings.On June 8, Israeli forces again fired upon civilians seeking aid at two separate distribution points in Gaza, killing twelve.On June 9, Israel and Israeli-backed forces opened fire on a crowd at an aid site in Gaza, killing 14.And on June 10, at least 36 people were reported killed and 208 wounded when Israeli forces again fired on crowds seeking aid in Gaza.https://medium.com/media/3854b9c54e248745f82f296fd7dfe2c3/hrefSince May 27, some 160 people have reportedly been killed in massacres at these GHF sites, which people in Gaza are reportedly beginning to refer to as a “death trap”.Think about how desperate and starving you’d have to be before you’d go seek food from people who you know will probably start spraying the crowd with bullets at some point. This really gives you an idea of how badly the people of Gaza have been suffering.But, again, at the beginning of the month, Israel and its spinmeisters were crying antisemitic blood libel at the very suggestion that IDF troops would fire upon people trying to obtain food.The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a deceitful video clip which it falsely claimed showed Hamas members, not the IDF, firing on the crowd.Netanyahu advisor Caroline Glick and Israel’s “Minister of Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism” Amichai Chikli both called the reporting on the June 1 massacre a “blood libel”.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt falsely accused the BBC of peddling Hamas propaganda for reporting on the June 1 massacre.https://medium.com/media/95d6376dcd829072ac17cd5750705078/hrefFormer Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennet shared a video clip of people in Gaza not being shot at some point and claimed this proves nobody was shot at the specified incident on June 1, saying “When it’s about Israel, all slander works.”The Jerusalem Post published an article titled “Media blood libel over alleged Gaza aid shooting will have far-reaching repercussions.”Israel’s official Twitter account called the reporting “Hamas propaganda”.The Washington Post bowed to pressure and retracted its article on the June 1 massacre, saying it didn’t “give proper weight to Israel’s denial and gave improper certitude about what was known about any Israeli role in the shootings.”Then, a few days later, CNN published a report based on extensive video analysis and eyewitness interviews which found that all evidence, contrary to Israel’s claims, “points to the Israeli military opening fire on crowds of Palestinians as they tried to make their way to the fenced enclosure to get food.”https://medium.com/media/ef4fa72c559a1250a76a23e84f204146/hrefEven without the CNN report, Israel’s own actions since June 1 have proved that Israeli forces do indeed deliberately fire upon starving civilians seeking humanitarian aid. Israel lied. Again.Which should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention to Israel’s mass atrocities in Gaza. This is after all the same genocidal state which indignantly objected to claims that it would ever bomb a medical facility after an explosion at the Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in October 2023, only to bomb that exact same hospital many times thereafter while deliberately destroying Gaza’s entire healthcare infrastructure.One of the craziest phrases you can possibly utter in the year 2025 is “Let’s give Israel the benefit of the doubt on this one.” They’ve been caught lying so many times that there is no reason to take any of their denials seriously. You don’t get to ban journalists from Gaza while getting caught lying about your actions over and over again and then have people give any weight to your denials of reported atrocities. That’s not a thing.___________________My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece here are some options where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. Click here for links for my mailing list, social media, books, merch, and audio/video versions of each article. All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2Feature image via Adobe Stock.