DayofPal– GHF mercenary Anthony Aguilar said he witnessed the Israeli army firing on crowds of Palestinians at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, citing this as the primary reason for his resignation.
In an interview with the BBC, retired US special forces officer Anthony Aguilar said, “I witnessed the Israeli Defense Forces shooting at the crowds of Palestinians. I witnessed the Israeli Defense Forces firing a main gun tank round from the Markava tank into a crowd of people, destroying a car of civilians that were simply driving away from the site. I witnessed mortar rounds being fired at the crowds of people to keep them controlled.”
Aguilar recounted the story of a child named Amir, who was shot and killed by Israeli forces after receiving half a kilo of lentils and thanking Aguilar with a kiss on the hand. “Thank you,” the child had said.
On May 28, 2025, child Amir was in miserable conditions heading towards GHF sites 2. He walked 12 kilometers from home to get food, wearing no shoes with wide clothes and skeletal body ravaged by hunger.
While coming back, Amir and other people were shot at indiscriminately with pepper spray, and tear gas, stunt grenades, and bullets at feet and in the air. Finally, the Israeli army killed Amir despite that he thanked the officer and kissed his hand.
Aguilar stated that the incident compelled him to step down. Referring to the GHF aid sites, he said, “In my most frank assessment, I would say that they’re criminal. In my entire career I have never witnessed the brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population, an unarmed, starving population.
“I’ve never witnessed that in all of the places l’ve been deployed to war until I was in Gaza at the hands of the IDF and US contractors,” he added.
He continued, “We treat these civilians in Gaza worse, with less dignity than we treated the ISIS fighters that surrendered at Baghuz Fawqani in Syria in 2018.”
Aguilar described the US- and Israel-backed aid mechanism as “amateur,” saying GHF conduct was “inexperienced, untrained,” and had “no idea how to conduct operations of this magnitude.”
Aguilar admitted, “Without question, I witnessed war crimes. I witnessed war crimes being held by the Israeli Defence Forces without a doubt using artillery rounds, mortar rounds, firing tank rounds into unarmed civilians is a war crime.”
According to Gaza Government Media Office, over 1000 starved Gazans have been killed and over 7000 wounded by Israeli forces at so-called GHF sites in the Gaza Strip.
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