The airstrike on a convoy of civilians fleeing northern Gaza was not carried out by Israel, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said today.

Speaking to Sky News, he said he was concerned about the hostages taken by Hamas and was “continually working” to identify the bodies recovered in ground operations.

Hamas claimed that 70 people, mostly women and children, were killed in an attack on the convoy fleeing Gaza.

Asked about the attack on the truck transporting civilians from the north to the south of Gaza, Lt. Col. Lerner claimed that Israel was not responsible for the attack.

“Our investigation found that there were no strikes by the IDF and it appears that Hamas trapped the road,” he said.

“It’s all part of their propaganda effort to increase the sense of controversy and they have proven time and time again that they are sacrificing their people,” he said.

Asked about the death of Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah, who was killed by a rocket that hit southern Lebanon, he added: “It is a conflict zone and very dangerous. It’s an unfortunate situation that happened on the ground, but I can’t confirm that it was the result of the IDF.”

He also said that during the night the IDF killed one of the commanders of Hamas.