Israel
Boy ‘killed by IDF’ gives TV interview
GHF ‘whistleblower’ Anthony Aguilar claimed the eight-year-old, who he named as Amir, was shot by Israeli forces, was safely extracted from the Strip earlier this week
September 4, 2025 14:23
GHF ‘whistleblower’ Anthony Aguilar claimed the eight-year-old, who he named as Amir, was shot by Israeli forces, was safely extracted from the Strip earlier this week
September 4, 2025 14:23A young boy who was, according to a supposed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) whistleblower, was killed by the IDF in May has been found alive and well, and has given a TV interview.
The GHF is a US and Israeli-backed private firm that is operating aid distribution centres in southern Gaza. It has been the subject of intense international criticism following reports of civilian deaths at its sites.
In July, former GHF contractor and ex-US special forces officer Anthony Aguilar claimed that he had witnessed Israeli forces operating in areas around the sites committing “war crimes”.
This included telling the UnXeptable podcast that he met a boy named “Amir” while working at a distribution site on May 28.
He claimed that, after sharing a conversation and an embrace with Amir, the boy got lost in the crowd and was subsequently shot and killed by the IDF.
“He puts out his hand, and so I beckoned him to come to me. I said, ‘Come here'. And he reaches out and he holds my hand, and he kisses my hand and he says, ‘Shukran [Thank you],'” Aguilar claimed.
But he said their interaction was cut short by “pepper spray, tear gas, stun grenades and bullets”.
He also claimed that, as the crowd fled the site, he heard machine gun fire, adding: “They’re shooting to control the population that’s along the Morag Corridor. And as they’re doing that, they’re shooting into this crowd, … and Palestinians, civilians, human beings, are dropping to the ground, getting shot
"And Amir was one of them. Amir walked 12km to get food, got nothing but scraps, thanked us for it and died.”
This was disputed at the time by a woman claiming to be the boy’s aunt, but further evidence has now come to light in the form of the boy, real name Abdul Rahim Muhammad Hamden, giving an interview to Fox News.
GHF claimed that it had verified the boy’s identity using facial recognition software applied to clips recorded by Aguilar’s bodycam.
Abdul, who also goes by Abboud, was reportedly extracted from Gaza to safety on Thursday, along with his mother.
“Outside the Gaza Strip is nice,” he told Fox via a GHF translator.
We are overjoyed and deeply relieved that Abboud is safe, and that this story ends in hope," GHF Executive Chair Johnnie Moore said in a statement.
"That outcome was never guaranteed and it’s thanks to the courage and persistence of our team of American heroes; veterans who never stopped working to find him and bring him to safety in the most complex environment imaginable.
"While this story ends happily, it could have ended in tragedy. Too many people, including in the press and civil society, were quick to spread unverified claims without asking the most basic questions.
"When a child’s life is at stake, facts must matter more than headlines.”
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