A US mercenary unloaded an entire can of pepper spray into the face of a Palestinian man picking noodles off the ground, and other contractors shot into crowds of starving people trying to collect food in Gaza, a US security contractor told Israeli media.
Those are just some of the harrowing details that a 25-year-old contractor who recently worked for a security firm guarding distribution sites for the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) shared with Israel’s Channel 12 news in an interview aired on Tuesday.
The man, whose face was blurred and voice distorted to protect his identity, said he was a US military veteran who had deployed 12 times to four different war zones, but never saw such violence carried out against unarmed civilians as that by Israeli soldiers and US mercenaries in Gaza.
“I have never in my entire military career… have I been a part of, allowed, or bystander to the use of force against unarmed innocent civilians. Ever. And I’m not going to do it now,” he said.
“There is no fixing this,” he said. “Put an end to it.”
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More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while trying to access food in Gaza since the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
GHF distribution sites are guarded by two US security firms: Safe Reach Solutions (SRS) and UG Solutions.
SRS is run by a former high-ranking CIA officer and tied to a US private equity firm in Chicago, Middle East Eye has reported.
Both companies have come under scrutiny for the violence unfolding at aid sites where starving Palestinians are trying to collect food.
The Associated Press reported earlier this month that American contractors guarding the sites are using live ammunition and stun grenades against Palestinians.
The GHF told MEE on Thursday that while some of its aid workers had been attacked and injured en route to the sites, there have been “no incidents or fatalities at or in the immediate vicinity” of any of the sites.
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The former contractor interviewed by Channel 12 recounted similar atrocities.
“There was a man who was on the ground. He was on his hands and knees and he was picking up individual noodles,” he said.
“This guy wasn’t armed. He wasn’t a threat. This UG contractor sprayed an entire can of pepper spray on to this guy’s face. That’s lethal.”
In another case, the contractor recounted standing next to a Palestinian woman hit by a stun grenade: “She collapsed, fell to the ground. That was the moment I knew I couldn’t continue.”
The man also said that US contractors were firing live rounds at starving Palestinians. Job adverts for US mercenaries going to Gaza have called for applicants with weapons training and experience in “warfare tactics”.
“As the Palestinians were finishing getting the aid that was on the site, the UG Solutions personnel began shooting in their direction, shooting at them, shooting at their feet,” he said.
Israeli troops have admitted to deliberately shooting and killing unarmed Palestinians waiting for aid in the Gaza Strip, following direct orders from their superiors.
The US and Israeli-backed GHF was established to supplant the UN in distributing aid in Gaza. Only a trickle of food has entered the enclave, and some Palestinians, including children, are dying of hunger.
The contractor said Israeli engineers who planned the GHF sites did not appear to consider humanitarian factors or accessibility.
“If the UN method had the amount of support and security and coordination that GHF is getting, the UN process would be very successful,” he said.