GAZA AID artist tells BBC that he saw colleagues fire hungry Palestinians

A former security contractor of controversial new Gaza and US -backed US objects told the BBC that it has witnessed colleagues finding fire several times to hungry Palestinians who are not threat, including machine guns.

At one time, he said, the guard opened fire from an observation tower with a machine gun because a group of women, children and the elderly moved too slowly from the place.

When asked to respond to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the allegations were firmly incorrect.

They directed us to a statement that says that no civilians have never fused at the GHF distribution sites.

GHF started its gas operations in late May, spreading limited help from several sites in southern and central gas. This was followed by an 11-week common blockade of Gaza from Israel, during which no food entered the territory.

The system is widely criticized that it forces a huge number of people to pass through active combat zones to a handful of sites. Ever since GHF began, Israeli forces have killed more than 400 Palestinians, trying to get food assistance from their sites, UN said and local doctors. Israel says the new distribution system stops the help of Homas.

Continuing his description of the incident on one of the GHF sites – in which he said the guards fired at a group of Palestinians – the former artist said: “As this happened, another contractor standing on a Berm overlooking the exit, opens with 15 to 20 shots of the repetitive arms fire on the crowd.

“The Palestinian man fell to the ground stationary. And then the other performer who stood there was like,” Damn, I think you have one. “And then they laughed about it.”

The contractor, who talks to us on condition of anonymity, said that GHF leaders had discarded his report as a coincidence, suggesting that the Palestinian man could “stumble” or be “tired and tired”.

GHF claims that the former contractor who made these allegations is a “dissatisfied former performer” who has stopped for misconduct he denies. He showed us pay, suggesting that he continued to pay two weeks after leaving the post.

The man we were talking to, who said he had worked in the four GHF distribution sites describes a culture of impunity with little rules or control.

He said the performers did not receive clear rules for engagement or standard operational procedures and were told by a team leader: “If you feel threatened, shoot – shoot to kill and ask questions later.”

The culture of the company, he said, felt like “we’re entering Gaza, so that’s not the do you. Do what you want.”

“If the Palestinian moves away from the place and does not demonstrate a hostile intention and we shoot warning shots to them, independently, we are wrong, we are criminally careless,” he told me.

He told us that every site has activity to monitor CCTV there, and GHF insists that no one has been hurt or shot is a “absolute naked lie”.

GHF said the shooting hears footage shared with the BBC comes from Israeli forces.

The team leaders cited the Gazanas as the Zombie Hordes, the contractor told me: “Leaving that these people have no value.”

The former artist also said that the Palestinians come to harm other ways on GHF sites, for example, being hit by debris from stunning grenades sprayed with mace or pushed out of crowds in razor wire.

He said that he himself had witnessed several times, in which the Palestinians seemed to have been seriously injured, including a man who had a full canned can of pepper spray in his face, and a woman who was said to have been struck with the metal part of a stunning grenade, was incorrectly fired in a crowd.

“This metal piece struck her directly into the head and she descended to the ground, not moving,” he said. “I don’t know if she was dead. I know she was unconscious and completely baked.”

Earlier this week more than 170 charity organizations and other NGOs called GHF to be closedS Organizations, including Oxfam and Save the Children, say Israeli forces and armed groups “routine” open fire on the Palestinians seeking help.

Israel denies its soldiers to deliberately shoot recipients of help and says that the GHF system provides direct help to the people who need it by circumventing Hamas’s intervention.

GHF says he has delivered more than 52 million meals in five weeks and that other organizations “stand helplessly because their help is looted.”

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and 251 others were taken hostage.

Since then, at least 57 130 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the territory.

Additional reporting by Guide Clayman and Samantha Granville