US military contractor likens Gaza aid distribution run by GHF to ‘The Hunger Games’ | ABS-CBN News

Описание: A US military contractor who worked on the controversial Gaza humanitarian relief effort, has likened the aid distribution operation where 20 people were killed in a stampede in mid July, to the dystopian survival television series ‘The Hunger Games’.
   Anthony Aguilar, a former contractor for UG Solutions, a company paid to provide security for aid deliveries in Gaza, said security personnel had fired tear gas and occasional warning shots towards starving Gazans swarming what he said were badly designed aid distribution points.
     The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which runs the aid distribution sites, and UG Solutions, which provided security on its behalf, deny any wrongdoing and say Aguilar is a disgruntled ex-employee who was fired for poor performance.
   GHF, a U.S.-and Israeli-backed organisation, began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel tightened restrictions on U.N.-led aid distribution, saying much of it was ending up in the hands of Hamas. Hamas denies stealing aid. The United Nations says GHF's distribution of aid is unsafe and in breach of humanitarian impartiality.
    GHF counters that it has provided millions of meals to desperate Gazans under extremely difficult conditions.
     Aguilar described desperate civilians' rush for aid at the distribution points as "the Gaza Olympics, or the survival of the fittest". He said UG Solution ignored his warnings about lack of training and unclear rules of engagement for security contractors as well as the poor conditions at the sites.
     GHF denies this. It said Aguilar - when he was still working as a contractor for UG Solutions - circulated numerous text messages to the team stressing the success of their mission and its importance. It says he only spent a little time in Gaza.
    UG solutions has said its recruitment process includes background checks and weapons proficiency tests. It did not comment on the contractors’ reported lack of training or unclear rules of engagement.
     Aguilar says he shot video that showed tear gas being fired towards a crowd of people queuing between steel fences to get to aid sites. GHF says its contractors only used tear gas and other non-lethal methods to control crowds, never firing at them.
    Another video shot by Aguilar showed UG solutions contractors standing at an emptied aid site with audio of gunfire heard in the distance. The cry of ‘Hell yeah boy' can be heard.
     Using geolocation, Reuters confirmed the location in which the video was shot as an aid site on the Salah Al Din Road in central Gaza, near Nuseirat Camp.
     Aguilar said a contractor opened fire as Palestinian civilians were leaving the site and he saw one man carrying a large sack of food fall to the ground and remain motionless.
    That incident was not contained in the video and Reuters was unable to verify it independently. GHF and UG Solutions have firmly denied any security contractors have shot at Gazans. UG Solutions said the cry of “Hell yeah boy,” during the shooting was cheering Israeli military fire. The individual was later dismissed, it said.
     Aguilar has said he was speaking out because he wanted Americans to be aware of what was happening with the aid distribution in Gaza.
  In a video statement on Zoom, GHF Solutions said that Aguilar was fired for erratic behaviour and that he begged to be re-hired. A representative for the company produced what he said were text messages between Aguilar and a superior saying he would reapply for a position with the Gaza mission.
     David Panzer, a lawyer for UG Solutions, showed what he said were text messages between Aguilar and a manager in which Aguilar threatens to be 'their worst nightmare' if they didn’t hire him back.
    The Israeli Army has said it only fires warning shots at suspects who approach them from the near aid distribution sites. It has pledged to investigate some reports of shootings of civilians by its forces.
(Production: Kevin Fogarty, Greg Savoy, Monica Naime, Deniz Uyar, Tiffany Le, Nisreen Bathish, Imad Creidi)

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