EXCLUSIVE: American Security Contractor Unloads On US-Israeli ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’
I thought I was signing up for an aid mission. But what I've witnessed in Gaza is horrific.
Editor’s note: Given the value of this information and perspective, Zeteo granted the author's request for anonymity in order to speak freely without intimidation or fear of retaliation.
I am one of hundreds of security contractors who have been in Gaza to facilitate aid under the new US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation project.
And it’s all bullshit.
I joined what sounded like a good mission, with good pay – through a company called UG Solutions. We were given little information.
I was told I got the job just days before we were set to depart. It was very last minute.
After arriving in Washington, DC, on May 16, we received a slightly more detailed brief. We were going to provide security for aid sites in Gaza. It was said again and again: “If you're here to get your gun on, then pack your shit and go home, because that's not what we're here for. We're here to help.” I was happy with that idea.
The next day, we departed for the Middle East. Our group included about 300 people of diverse backgrounds, including those who served in special operations military units, former infantrymen, individuals who were in the military but had never deployed, and others who did not serve in the military at all, but had worked in law enforcement. Some folks seemed way too old. It seemed like the company was so short on personnel that they weren’t picky about who they allowed in on this.
Getting gear and equipment was difficult. They didn't have enough uniforms to go around. They didn’t provide optics, or scopes, for our weapons (like the red dots that help you aim). Weapons themselves were a whole other thing. We were eventually each issued an AR-style rifle, as well as a pistol sidearm. But no one was tested to ensure they had proper training.
Some of us were also given machine guns. We were later issued less lethal options: pepper spray, flashbang grenades. You guessed it: no one was tested to see if they knew how to properly use them. How close to people can you throw a flashbang? If you're going to pepper spray someone, where do you spray? For how long? Nobody knows because nobody told us. We're talking about people who don't have access to water, and we're ready to spray them in the face with pepper spray. Why would we do that? They're just trying to get aid we're there to give them. It doesn't make any sense.
It wasn’t just a lack of weapons training. Those of us with a military deployment background have cultural awareness training as well – something that’s important when trying to connect with a civilian population. But that wasn’t offered to us, including those who’ve never deployed, before we headed into Gaza.
And I’m not even mentioning the fact that these guys are also sleep-deprived. Before we deployed, we were told we were going to be working 12-hour shifts – four days on, two days off. We have actually worked up to 20 hours a day sometimes. No days off. We were told we’re operating within international law. But they never delineated what those laws or guidelines were. The only distinct guidance was that if you or those around you feel threatened, you have the authority to defend yourself. But that left a lot of gray areas.
So, you have guys with hardly any knowledge of the culture, no deployment experience, and are not necessarily qualified to be using the weapons they had in charge of security at aid sites in a place where we know millions are desperate for aid. What could go wrong?
A lot did go wrong.
Pure Chaos
On my first day, the second official day of the mission, we were overrun; it was pure chaos. At the aid site’s entrance gates, we had people waiting in five lanes separated by metal fencing. One lane was strictly for women and children. The other four were all men, and they were letting people in, five, 10, 20 at a time – whatever we could handle. It was not organized, and people were getting smushed and trampled. Eventually, there were so many people in the lanes that the gates burst.
We fell back, letting people get the aid. They were never aggressive towards us. They were only trying to get aid – aid, by the way, that consisted of flour, rice, lentils, tea bags, and noodles; things that need water. They don’t have any water. And we’re not giving out water.
We soon had to fall back again, to a second perimeter. At that point, some personnel started firing warning shots in the air.
And then we fell back once more. As we were being overrun, we were directed to push everyone out, even as they still collected items off the ground.
We all got in a line and began pushing these people out. We’re telling crying women trying to pick up food for their families that they had to go. They were looking at this food on the ground that they desperately needed, and they couldn’t take it. It was absolutely horrific.
One of the guys, who was the first to fire a warning shot, was also the first I saw to make physical contact with a Palestinian. Someone was stooped over, picking up supplies – and without missing a beat, the US contractor pushed them to the ground.
This idea that the Israeli military isn't involved is bullshit.
I was later told that the Israeli military needed to clear those people out because they were going to come through. They soon showed up with tanks, as some sort of security presence, but we had pushed people out by then.
This idea that the Israeli military isn't involved is bullshit. They're very much involved. They have offices in our compounds. We share our radio communications with them. The higher-ups claim the Israeli military is not involved, but it feels like they’re the man behind the curtain. Sure, they’re not on-site with us, but their snipers and tanks are just hundreds of meters away. You can hear them shooting all day.
The aftermath of the chaos was just as remarkable. During those long hour shifts, food wasn’t provided. We were given a stipend to get our own groceries back in Israel, but there just wasn’t much time for that, let alone to sleep. Some of our guys were eating the aid just scattered all over the site.
Aid Trap?
One episode sticks with me. We were monitoring an empty site all day; sometime after dark, dozens of flatbed trucks finally brought aid. The Israeli military soon radioed in that 200 to 300 civilians a couple of kilometers (less than two miles) north were approaching. We then observed an Israeli drone go out there.
Shortly thereafter, that area started getting lit up with artillery.
The generous interpretation? Maybe the Israelis were firing between our position and the people in order to keep them from moving forward. I don't think that's the case. After all, tanks fire all day long near these aid sites. Snipers fire from what used to be a hospital. Bombs and bullets fly all day long in one direction – toward Palestinians.
We know the Israeli military has been enforcing curfews in some parts of Gaza. I would not be surprised if the aid was delivered at night deliberately, given it would then draw people out, at which point they could be fired on as combatants, even though they weren't. It’s very clear that the Israeli military will take any opportunity available to fire.
What we – these American companies and contract personnel – are doing is directly leading to more pain, suffering, and death for the Palestinians in Gaza.
People sometimes have to travel miles to get to the sites – and that means through Israeli-controlled areas. Any excuse the military can come up with to say someone is a threat, they’ll take. There’s not really any international media in these areas, and the West doesn’t really want to believe the Palestinian media, so you get to this point where the truth itself is murky. All the while, all I’ve heard all day is Israeli tanks, machine guns, snipers, and bombs.
But never any fire from the opposite direction.
Initially, when we first started giving out aid, it was really heartening. I mean, I could cry. Palestinians were saying ‘Thank you’ and ‘I love America.’
But that didn’t last.
I want to be clear: I went into this pretty open-minded. I don't have a side. I despise human suffering, and I hate that it exists. I was just hoping to be helpful. But I don't think we are. What we – these American companies and contract personnel – are doing is directly leading to more pain, suffering, and death for the Palestinians in Gaza.
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I cannot say I'm even surprised but we'll never have stories like this on main steam media. Thank you, whoever you are, for sharing the truth.
This is an important story of experiencing the toll that starving the Palestinian population is taking. The State if Israel and the IDF need to held accountable for their crimes.