GHF Ex-Contractor Exposes Israeli Brutality against Palestinian Aid Seekers
An American army veteran has exposed the crimes committed by the Israeli military at the aid distribution sites operated by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
The retired US Army Green Beret and former GHF contractor, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Aguilar, shared heartbreaking accounts of atrocities committed by Israeli troops against starving Palestinian civilians, including children, near aid hubs.
Amir: Victim of Israeli Brutality
During an interview with the UnXeptable podcast, Aguilar recounted how the Israeli forces brutally killed an innocent Palestinian child right after receiving food supplies.
“This little boy, his name was Amir, and he was standing with the crowd. But he walks over to me and he puts out his hand. And at first, I thought he wanted more food or something. I felt bad coz I didn’t have anything,” Aguilar said.
“But I was like ‘oh I have nothing,’ and he puts out his hand, so I beckoned him to come to me and said ‘come here.’ He reaches out and holds my hand and he kisses my hand. He kisses my hand and he says ‘shukran’ (thank you),” he added.
Dire Conditions
The US army veteran described Amir’s pathetic condition. “Can you see in this picture this little boy is not wearing shoes. His clothes are falling off him because he is so skinny. I put my hand on his left shoulder and I looked at him and we looked each other in the eyes. I say to him ‘people care. You are a human being and people care about you. The world cares’,” Aguilar recounted.
“That is not Hamas. That’s not a Hamas spider. And I looked at him and said the world cares. And he put down the little food he has, you notice he does not have a box of food. He has half of a bag of rice that he found on the ground, a broken bag, half of a bag of lentils that he found on the ground. And he was thanking us,” he said.
Heartbreaking Account
“This little boy walked 12 km just to get there. Look at this boy. When he got there, he thanked us for the remnants and small crumbs that he got. He sets them down on the ground because I was kneeling at this point. And he sets his food down and he places his hands on my face, on my cheeks, with these frail skeleton emaciated hands – dirty – he kissed me and said ‘thank you’ in English,” the former GHF contractor said.
Aguilar went on to recount what happened. “He collected his items and walked back to the group, and then he was shot at with pepper spray, tear gas, stun grenades and bullets shot at his feet and in the air. He runs away, scared, as they are shooting into this crowd,” he said while struggling to hold back his tears.
Killing Palestinian Civilians
“And Palestinian civilians – human beings – are dropping to the ground, getting shot, and Amir was one of them. Amir walked 12 km to get food, got nothing but scraps, thanked us for it and died,” Aguilar added.
“That’s what we are doing. That’s not the only occasion. That happens every day at some point in the sites. Innocent civilians being shot,” the retired US soldier concluded.
