A major Spanish newspaper has revealed that the Israeli occupation has recruited foreign mercenaries, including a notorious Spanish group, to assist in its brutal war on the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to El Mundo, Pedro Diaz Flores, a Spanish mercenary who previously fought alongside neo-Nazis in Ukraine, said that he and many other private military contractors have joined the Israeli occupation forces that pay them “very well.”
“So, I came for economy, for money. They pay very well; they offer good equipment and the work is calm. It is 3,900 euros [$4,187] per week, complementary missions aside,” he told the newspaper.
He claimed that his role was to provide security support to arms convoys or the Israeli troops that are in the Gaza Strip, and that he did not directly engage with Hamas, the Palestinian resistance movement that controls the coastal enclave.
“We are in charge of the security of the checkpoints and access control on the borders of Gaza and Jordan. There are many PMCs (private military companies) here and they share the work. Traditionally, they have guarded border terminals between Eliat and Aqaba,” he added.
The report comes as speculations arose last month that mercenaries stationed in Ukraine had begun to shift to the Israeli occupation, as the focus of the West has also moved from Ukraine to Gaza.
The Israeli occupation launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long crimes against Palestinians.
The Israeli occupation has also imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza, depriving the population of water, food, and electricity, and causing a humanitarian crisis.
According to the Gaza-based health ministry, at least 10,022 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli strikes, 75 percent of whom are women and children.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=52555