In the quiet outskirts of Tel Aviv, an active-duty soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), who, for security reasons, will be referred to only as “Y”, is between rounds of duty after completing more than 300 days of service since October 7. He recounts what he saw during one of the most contested incidents of the war, challenging headlines that claimed Israeli soldiers opened fire on starving civilians. Another IDF reservist who was present at the scene also confirmed “Y’s” account of the incident, including the sequence of events and the nature of the crowd that approached the distribution site.

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According to his account, the incident began the night before. On July 19, around 10 p.m., eight to ten aid trucks arrived at the site. The delivery was standard procedure, meant to prepare for morning distribution. But soon after, a crowd began to approach. “They weren’t supposed to be there. It was closed. They saw the trucks and came to loot,” he says. “We fired warning shots. No one was hurt. They left, for the time being.”

The army had posted the opening times on Palestinian Facebook groups. Drones circled overhead, broadcasting in Arabic: “The site will open at 9 a.m. Do not approach.” “Y” says the instructions were clear, constant and public.

Around 2 a.m., a small team was sent to a forward position one kilometer from the corridor, at a junction of several dirt paths. Their role was to intercept any suspicious movement before it reached the aid zone. At approximately 4:30 a.m., four Gazan men came into view. Voices echoed in the dark. Then came chants of “Allahu Akbar.” “That’s when it became obvious; this wasn’t just a spontaneous crowd,” he says. “It was coordinated.”