In the desolate landscape of Gaza, where hunger gnaws at the bones of children and hope is a scarce commodity, a retired US Special Forces officer has come forward with a harrowing account that exposes the grim reality behind US- and Israel-backed humanitarian efforts.
Anthony Aguilar, a 25-year Green Beret veteran, witnessed unimaginable atrocities while working as a security contractor for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an organization tasked with distributing aid in the war-torn Palestinian territory.
His testimony, supported by interviews with France 24, Tucker Carlson, and Mother Jones among others, paints a chilling picture of aid distribution zones transformed into death traps, where starving civilians, including children as young as five, are gunned down while seeking scraps of food.
A Child’s Gratitude, Met with Bullets
At the heart of Aguilar’s testimony is the story of Amir, a five-year-old boy whose frail, emaciated frame and tattered clothes bore witness to Gaza’s unrelenting famine. On May 28, 2025, Amir walked 12 kilometers—barefoot and alone—to reach a GHF aid distribution point in southern Gaza.
Aguilar recalls the moment vividly: “He approached me and took a bag, having nothing else to put the food in. He extended his hand, and I thought he wanted more aid. Instead, he kissed my hand and said, ‘Thank you’ in perfect English.”
Aguilar, kneeling to meet the boy’s gaze, told him, “There are people who care about you.” Amir, with dusty, skeletal hands, held Aguilar’s face and repeated, “Thank you.” Moments later, as the boy walked away with his meager rations, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) opened fire on the crowd of hungry civilians.
Bullets tore through the air, accompanied by tear gas and stun grenades. Aguilar watched in horror as bodies fell, one by one. Among them was Amir, his small body pierced by bullets, his life extinguished mere minutes after his act of gratitude.
“I resigned from my position because of the horror of what I witnessed,” Aguilar says. “But my colleagues did not, and massacres like this happen daily.”
The image of Amir’s lifeless body haunts him, a symbol of the countless children caught in a cycle of violence and deprivation. “Maybe Amir had a younger sister dying of hunger waiting for him, or a father and mother wounded from another massacre,” he reflects, his voice heavy with anguish.
A Flawed System, A Deadly Outcome
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, backed by the US and Israel, has been condemned by major humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for its mismanagement of aid distribution.
Reports indicate that over 1,300 Palestinians have been killed in aid distribution zones, often deliberately targeted with live ammunition, tear gas, and other lethal measures by Israeli forces and, in some cases, US private military contractors. Aguilar’s account sheds light on the systemic failures that have turned these zones into “death zones.”
One particularly surreal incident underscores the dysfunction at GHF. In June 2025, Aguilar faced the challenge of feeding local Palestinian workers assisting with aid efforts. With no viable food supply chain in place, GHF resorted to ordering 27 Domino’s pizzas through an Israeli delivery app.
“We picked them up at the Gaza border and transported them in an armored convoy to the distribution site,” Aguilar recounts. “If it weren’t so tragic, it would be comedy. It’s not comedy, because it is absolutely tragic.”
This makeshift solution highlights what Aguilar calls GHF’s “enterprise that has failed from the beginning.” The organization’s inability to deliver aid effectively has left Gaza’s population teetering on the edge of survival, while its security practices have drawn widespread criticism.
Allegations of War Crimes
Aguilar’s allegations extend beyond mismanagement to accusations of war crimes. “In my entire career, I have never witnessed the level of brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population, an unarmed starving population,” he says.
He describes Israeli forces firing machine guns, artillery rounds, mortar rounds, and tank rounds into crowds of unarmed civilians. “Shooting at their feet, shooting over their heads, shooting into the berm—it’s been verified,” he adds, referencing video evidence of the incidents.
Aguilar also implicates US involvement, noting that American tax dollars fund GHF’s operations and that US contractors are on the ground, armed, and engaging with Palestinians. “The American people need to know what the United States is involved in in Gaza,” he insists. “We’re not bystanders. We are a part of it.”
In response, UG Solutions, a GHF partner and Aguilar’s former employer, denied his allegations, labeling him a “disgruntled former contractor who seeks revenge.”
The company admitted to firing warning shots near GHF facilities but claimed they were directed “upwards, in the air, and towards the coastline,” not at civilians.
GHF echoed this, stating that gunfire in the incident originated from the IDF, outside the immediate vicinity of their site, and called Aguilar’s account “categorically false.”
The IDF, meanwhile, acknowledged civilian casualties at distribution sites but said the incidents are “under review” and that “instructions were issued to forces in the field” following internal examinations.
A Whistleblower’s Stand
Aguilar’s decision to speak out has thrust him into the center of a firestorm. UG Solutions claims a contractor heard in a video was “encouraging IDF fire” and has since been terminated, but Aguilar disputes their characterization of his motives.
His testimony aligns with reports from humanitarian organizations and whistleblowers who have long warned of the dangers faced by Palestinians seeking aid.
The UN and other groups have documented repeated instances of Israeli forces using lethal force against civilians at aid sites, often under direct orders.
The tragedy of Amir is not an isolated incident. Stories of children, women, and men killed while seeking food have become a grim hallmark of Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.
The region’s famine, exacerbated by ongoing conflict and restricted aid access, has left millions on the brink of starvation. Aguilar’s account underscores a broader truth: the very systems meant to deliver relief are entangled in a web of violence and negligence.
A Call for Accountability
Aguilar’s words carry a moral weight that transcends the specifics of his story. “And then the ‘civilized’ world will come to you and speak of ‘children’s rights,’ ‘women’s empowerment,’ and host ‘gender studies’ events to save the Islamic world from ‘extremist ideology,’” he says, his voice dripping with indignation. “By God, every single person complicit in what is happening will face a severe reckoning, on a day they will wish they were dust.”
His invocation of Amir’s story reflects a deep moral and ethical conviction, a plea for justice in a world that seems to have abandoned Gaza’s most vulnerable.
Aguilar’s testimony is a clarion call for accountability—not just for the IDF or GHF, but for the international community, including the United States, whose funding and personnel are implicated in the crisis.
A Humanitarian Crisis Ignored
As Gaza’s famine worsens, the international response remains woefully inadequate. The UN estimates that over 2 million Palestinians face acute food insecurity, with children like Amir bearing the brunt of the crisis.
Aid distribution sites, meant to be sanctuaries, have become battlegrounds, where the desperate are met with bullets rather than bread.
Aguilar’s story of Amir—a boy who walked 12 kilometers for a handful of food, only to be killed moments after expressing gratitude—encapsulates the profound failure of the current system.
For those like Aguilar, who have witnessed the horrors firsthand, silence is not an option. “Oh Lord, do not take our souls while we are counted among the participants or the silent bystanders,” he prays.
His words challenge us all to confront the complicity of inaction and to demand justice for Amir and the countless others whose lives have been stolen in Gaza’s death zones.
Share This Post