A FORMER security contractor for controversial new Israel and US-backed aid distribution sites witnessed colleagues opening fire several times on hungry Palestinians who had posed no threat.

Speaking to BBC News, the contractor recalled one occasion when a guard had opened fire from a watchtower with a machine gun because a group of women, children and elderly people were moving away from the site too slowly.

Although the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has denied the allegations, claiming no civilians ever came under fire at their distribution sites, the BBC recorded 24 incidents where aid seekers were killed in large numbers.

The GHF began its operations at the end of May after an 11-week total blockade of Gaza by Israel, during which no food entered the territory.

Since it started, Israeli forces have killed more than 400 Palestinians trying to retrieve food aid from its sites, the UN and local doctors say.

Guards ‘fire into unarmed crowds, then laugh about it’

Describing the incident where guards fired on a group of Palestinians, the former contractor said: “As that happened, another contractor on location, standing on the berm overlooking the exit, opened up with 15 to 20 shots of repetitive weapons fire at the crowd.

“A Palestinian man dropped to the ground motionless. And then the other contractor who was standing there was like, ‘damn, I think you got one’. And then they laughed about it.”

The contractor, who spoke to us on condition of anonymity, said GHF managers had brushed off his report as a coincidence, suggesting that the Palestinian man could have “tripped” or been “tired and passed out”.

The GHF claims the man who made these allegations is a “disgruntled former contractor” who was terminated for misconduct, which he denies. He showed the BBC evidence that he left the post on good terms.

The contractor said he had worked at all four GHF distribution sites, and described a culture of impunity with few rules or controls.

He said contractors were given no clear rules of engagement or standard operating procedures, and were told by one team leader: “if you feel threatened, shoot – shoot to kill and ask questions later”.

The culture in the company, he said, felt like “we’re going into Gaza so it’s no rules. Do what you want.”

The contractor that each site had CCTV monitoring the activity in the area, and GHF insistence that no one there had been hurt or shot at was “an absolute bare-faced lie”.

Team leaders referred to Gazans as “zombie hordes”, the former contractor said, “insinuating that these people have no value.”

The man also said Palestinians were coming to harm in other ways at GHF sites, for example by being hit by debris from stun grenades, being sprayed with mace or being pushed by the crowds into razor wire.

He said he had witnessed several occasions in which Palestinians appeared to have been seriously hurt, including one man who had a full can of pepper spray in his face, and a woman who he said was hit with the metal part of a stun grenade, improperly fired into a crowd.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2025