Former US guard at GHF speaks of brutality he witnessed against desperate Gaza civilians
The former US soldier who spoke anonymously said he could not bear working at the foundation any longer after witnessing extreme brutality against Gazans
The UN says more than a thousand Palestinians have been killed as they waited to receive aid since GHF began operations in late May [Getty]
A former guard working for the widely condemned Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid organisation, which is backed by the US and Israel, has revealed shockingly violent behaviour by its security teams, while calling for it to be shut down.
The former US Army soldier with 25 years of experience in the military, and whose identity was kept anonymous, says he arrived in Israel in May to begin working with the GHF.
The GHF's aid distribution mechanism, which bypasses the United Nations, has been slammed by the UN, rights and humanitarian groups as being a "death trap."
Over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the GHF began operations in late May as they waited to receive aid, the UN said recently.
"In reality, the aid centres have greatly harmed the population and put them in danger," the US guard told Israel’s Channel 12 in an interview on Tuesday, with his face blurred.
Referring to GHF’s operations, he said, "this cannot be fixed; it must be stopped."
He explained that the aid distribution sites are located in remote areas that Gazans aren’t allowed to access by vehicle, forcing them to carry heavy packages on foot in an active combat zone.
The guard criticised his former colleagues responsible for securing the aid centres, as he spoke of unruly behaviour in their attempts to impose order.
He recounts an incident in which American guards pepper-sprayed a Palestinian who was collecting food from the ground and who posed no threat.
In another incident, a stun grenade was thrown and directly hit a Palestinian woman.
"I collapsed and fell to the ground. That was the moment I realised I couldn't continue working there," the former guard told Channel 12.
Recounting another incident, he said once Palestinians finished collecting the aid, the American guards started shooting towards them – in the legs and around them – to force them to leave the site.
"In all my military service, I have never witnessed such use of force against unarmed civilians. I won't be part of it now," he says.
According to him, Israeli soldiers present in the area also expressed frustration with the situation: "They have no control over who enters and leaves, and they see it as a real operational threat."
He says the problem lies in the entire system and not just separate incidents on the ground.
"If the UN had the resources and coordination that this mechanism has, things would be much better."
Israel has constantly attacked UN agencies operating in Israeli or occupied Palestinian territories, particularly the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. It has now banned UNRWA from operating in the Gaza Strip, Israel, and the West Bank.
GHF has denied the remarks made by the guard, saying that it has "launched an immediate investigation into the details as soon as the allegations were presented to it."
"Based on video recordings and witness testimony, we have concluded that the allegations in the report are entirely false. The former contractor interviewed was fired several weeks ago for inappropriate behaviour," GHF claimed.
"There was no point in civilians being fired at a GHF distribution site. The gunfire heard in the video was verified as coming from the Israeli military and occurred outside the immediate area of the distribution site. The gunfire was not directed at people, and no one was injured," it said.
Earlier this month, senior Israeli military officers from the army’s southern command admitted to killing Palestinians seeking aid at GHF distribution points, saying some operations had involved "uncalculated and inaccurate" fire, resulting in civilian casualties.