A Gaza government media office rejected accusations by the US State Department that the group was involved in a Saturday attack that injured two Americans at an aid distribution site in Gaza, it said on Sunday, Reuters reports.

A representative for UG Solutions, a North Carolina-based company providing security at GHF’s aid distribution sites in Gaza, told Reuters on Sunday that the injured Americans were employed as private security contractors.

The contractors were former US special forces and did not open fire after they were injured in order to avoid risking harm to nearby civilians, the person said.

The Gaza media office described the US accusation as misleading, saying it was aimed at justifying “the continued killing and starvation of Palestinian civilians”.

“We categorically and unequivocally reject the claims issued by the US State Department alleging that the Palestinian resistance threw explosives at American personnel operating at sites run by the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — GHF,” it said in a statement.