GAZA — A US mercenary who worked for the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), backed by the US and Israel, admitted that American mercenaries and Israeli soldiers deliberately shot at starving aid seekers at distribution sites, despite the unarmed civilians posing no threat.
He told Israel’s Channel 12 on Tuesday that “the aid centres treated the population very badly and put them in danger.”
The 25-year-old veteran of the American army said that the GHF system “can’t be fixed, it has to be put an end to”, adding that “if the UN had the resources and coordination that this mechanism has, it would work much better.”
He criticised the indiscriminate behaviour of GHF staff and recounted an incident in which a Palestinian who was collecting food from the ground was pepper-sprayed by US security guards, despite posing no threat.
He also described an incident where a GHF member of staff threw a stun grenade directly at a Palestinian woman, who collapsed and fell to the floor. “That was the moment I realised I couldn’t go on,” he said.
“While the Palestinians were finishing collecting the aid that was at the site, the American security guards began shooting at them … shooting at their feet, shooting at the earthen embankments, to make them leave,” he recounted.
“In all my military service, I have never seen such use of force against unarmed civilians. I will not take part in it now,” he said.
According to him, the sites are located in remote areas, where residents are not allowed to reach by car, so Palestinians are forced to carry heavy packages on foot, in an active combat zone. — QNN
