Anthony Aguilar claimed that Israeli troops shot civilians in front of him, but the US firm alleged that the supposed murders he recounted ‘never happened’
July 30, 2025 10:50
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has claimed that a former employee turned whistleblower "falsified documents" to spread a "false narrative" that IDF troops shot Gazan civilians at its aid distribution sites.
Since the foundation began its work in May, it has been dogged by accusations that both its private security contractors and the Israeli soldiers in the surrounding areas have launched direct attacks on the civilian population.
These allegations were amplified by Anthony Aguilar, an ex-US special forces soldier who worked as a contractor for the foundation, who gave a BBC interview this week in which he accused IDF troops of deliberately shooting into crowds queuing for aid.
In the BBC film, presented by International Editor Jeremy Bowen, Aguilar claimed he quit his role after witnessing “war crimes” in the Strip.
He told the broadcaster: "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 witnessed the Israeli Defence Forces shooting at the crowds of Palestinians. I witnessed, the Israeli Defence forces firing a main gun tank round...into a crowd of people.
"Without question, I witnessed war crimes.”
However, during a press briefing, GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay claimed that Aguilar had not resigned and had been "terminated for misconduct" by security firm UG Solutions, after which he had threatened retribution against his former employer.
According to Fay, the former soldier asked for his job back and, when this request was refused, went to the press.
The foundation accused him of "falsifying" a memo sent to senior management at UG Solutions raising concerns about crowd management policies.
Fay claimed that metadata (identifying data that logs when a digital file was created or modified) attached to the document showed that it was sent on June 21 - after Aguilar was sacked - and not, as he claimed, on May 28.
It also reportedly revealed that the document was sent to UG Solutions and the press at the same time.
Fay then produced screenshots text messages allegedly sent by Aguilar to team members praising their work.
One of the messages allegedly read: “It’s a privilege and an honour to see America’s best doing America’s most important work in places most Americans will only ever see on TV or read about.”
Another reportedly said: “Your efforts have brought families back together and have severely weakened the image of Hamas.”
Fay also claimed that Aguilar only worked for UG Solutions for 27 days, saying: "More than half of that time he spent in a hotel in Israel instead of on the ground at distribution sites.
"Not only did the events that he recounted never happen, but he wasn’t even in the right place or at the right time to have seen the things that he claims to have seen."
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