A former US veteran who was employed at a food distribution site in Gaza has accused members of the Israel occupation force and American colleagues of deliberately targeting and killing unarmed Palestinian civilians.
Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Aguilar, a former special forces veteran, was recruited to work for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a joint Israeli-US scheme replacing the UN food distribution operation in Gaza.
He has told the BBC he witnessed the Israel occupation force shooting at the crowds of Palestinians, firing a main tank round into a car carrying civilians, and firing mortars at crowds of hungry people waiting for food.
Aguilar told the BBC: “In my entire career I have never witnessed the level of brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population, an unarmed starving population. I’ve never witnessed that in all the places I’ve been deployed to war, until I was in Gaza at the hands of the IDF and US contractors…
“Without question I witnessed war crimes by the Israeli Defence Forces, without a doubt. Using artillery rounds, mortar rounds, tank rounds into unarmed civilians is a war crime.”
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The UN says hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza while seeking food at the aid distribution points run by the GHF.
Israel insists its forces have not targeted civilians, that it targets Hamas and that its use of force in Gaza is proportionate.
It comes as Israel faces international condemnation over the lack of food supplies reaching civilians in Gaza, with the UN and aid agencies reporting that people are dying of starvation.
Produced by: BBC News
AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
