Aguilar witnesses war crimes in Gaza

Anthony Aguilar, a retired US Army Green Beret who worked as an armed contractor for the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), told the BBC that he witnessed the Israeli military committing war crimes against desperate, defenseless Palestinians during his time in Gaza.

"I saw IDF troops fire at crowds of Palestinians," Aguilar said. "I saw IDF troops fire a main battle tank shell from a Merkava tank at a crowd of people, destroying a civilian vehicle that was moving away from the site. I saw mortar shells being fired at the crowd to control it."

He also explained that other Gaza Humanitarian Foundation contractors were not adequately trained. Aguilar said, "My professional opinion of how the sites were set up was what I would describe as unprofessional; inexperienced, untrained, and not knowing how to conduct operations of this magnitude. That's my most moderate assessment."

He added: "In my most blunt assessment, I would say they are criminal. In my entire career, I have never witnessed this level of brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population, a defenseless population that is starving. I have never witnessed this in all the places I have been involved in war, until I was in Gaza, at the hands of the Israeli military and American contractors."

When asked if he had witnessed war crimes, Aguilar said, "Without a doubt, I witnessed war crimes. I witnessed war crimes committed by Israeli forces. There is no doubt that the use of artillery shells, mortar shells, and tank shells against defenseless civilians is a war crime."

Since the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began operating in Gaza at the end of May, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access aid, most of them near GHF sites, while others were killed while trying to reach UN aid trucks. Aguilar's testimony is consistent with eyewitness accounts of Palestinians who survived Israeli military attacks on aid seekers.

The Israeli occupation army has admitted to firing on unarmed Palestinians near GHF sites, including with artillery shells, but disputes the figures issued by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, claiming they are exaggerated. However, the figures are consistent with daily reports from Gaza, and the United Nations has published a death toll that was higher than the Ministry of Health's.

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