Death toll from Israeli fire since dawn rises to 43
Doctors say Israeli forces opened fire in multiple areas of the Strip, with 10 of the dead reportedly gunned down while waiting for food.
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Middle East Eye
an hour ago
- Middle East Eye
Former Gaza contractor says Israeli soldiers were ready to shoot starving children
The Israeli military was preparing to gun down unarmed Palestinian children in Gaza, and a US mercenary firm told an employee that he was not allowed to stand in their way, according to a US military contractor hired to guard a Gaza aid site. Former Green Beret (US Army special forces) and contractor, Anthony Aguilar, revealed the chilling orders from the Israeli military in an interview with US Senator Chris Van Hollen aired by his office on Tuesday. Aguilar said that an Israeli lieutenant colonel ordered him to get the Palestinian children off a man's shoulders, on which they were standing, to avoid being crushed by a crowd of starving people trying to retrieve aid. 'A Palestinian man had picked up some children to let them step on his shoulders to get onto a berm because they were being crushed. He [the Israeli officer] says, 'Tell your men to get them down,'' Aguilar told Van Hollen. 'I was like, 'we got this under control'…they're children.' The Israeli officer erupted, Aguilar recalled, threatening, 'Get them down now or I will.' New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Aguilar said he ignored the threat as 'bombastic' until another US mercenary said the Israeli officer had used a radio to communicate with snipers at a nearby base, ordering them to kill the children. 'One of the contractors…was an American that did speak Hebrew. He said, 'Hey. He just told the snipers…to take these kids out',' Aguilar said. When Aguilar confronted the Israeli colonel, he replied, 'I'm gonna take care of this if you don't'. Aguilar said the children eventually ran away from the site, but he had told the Israeli officer that he would not allow him to shoot children. 'They didn't want to be there. They were unarmed. They didn't have shoes. One wasn't wearing a shirt. They were starving,' he said. 'Never say no' After the incident, Aguilar said the chief operations officer of a US mercenary firm, Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), called him outside and chastised him. 'He looked at me in the face and he said, 'Never say no to the client'.' Aguilar said he pressed the COO on who Safe Reach Solution's client was, adding that he was under the impression the company had been hired directly by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Starving child in Gaza was killed minutes after receiving aid, former US military contractor says Read More » 'He said 'No, the IDF…we work for them,' he added, referring to the Israeli army. SRS is run by a former high-ranking CIA officer and tied to a US private equity firm in Chicago, Middle East Eye has reported. Aguilar says he was contracted by another firm, UG Solutions, but was taking orders from SRS. Aguilar told Van Hollen he is a former Green Beret who attended the prestigious West Point Military Academy. After graduation, he said he was commissioned as an infantry officer and had 12 combat deployments during a 25-year military career, including to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. He says he has since severed his contract with UG Solutions and is speaking out. The GHF has said Aguilar's contract was terminated by UG Solutions for misconduct. GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay previously accused Aguilar of presenting " falsified documents' and 'misleading videos" about his time in Gaza. Aguilar has told other news outlets that he witnessed Israeli soldiers and US military contractors shooting unarmed Palestinian civilians and committing "war crimes". 'I'm coming out now because I feel that it's important that the American people know from a trusted and reliable source that was there,' he said. 'The American people need to know what the United States is involved in, in Gaza,' he said.
Al Etihad
an hour ago
- Al Etihad
Thirty-five Palestinians seeking aid killed by Israeli gunfire across Gaza
31 July 2025 00:39 GAZA (WAM)Thirty five Palestinian civilians were killed and dozens injured by Israeli gunfire near aid centres in several areas across the Gaza Strip, according to medical another context, the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate said the number of journalists killed in Gaza has risen to 232 since Israel launched its military campaign on October 7, 2023. It called on the international community to take immediate action to protect journalists and hold those responsible for these crimes accountable.
Middle East Eye
an hour ago
- Middle East Eye
Israeli social media campaign denies there is starvation in Gaza as death toll mounts
An Israeli campaign on social media this week is claiming there is no hunger in Gaza, while Palestinians have been documenting people dying from starvation due to the Israeli-imposed blockade on the strip. The official X account of the State of Israel has shared numerous reports suggesting that images of starving and malnourished children being shown across the world are fabricated, claiming that the children are suffering from other illnesses, such as 'cystic fibrosis'. In recent weeks, many international organisations, as well as the Palestinian health ministry, have warned of looming famine in Gaza. The United Nations has warned of 'catastrophic hunger' in Gaza and said the entire population of over two million people is severely food insecure. "One out of every three people has not eaten for days, and 80 percent of all reported deaths by starvation are children,' the agency said. While the death toll in Gaza is now over 60,000, at least 154 people have died due to malnutrition and starvation in the enclave, according to various news reports and international organisations. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters In May, the World Health Organisation said the entire population of Gaza is facing prolonged food shortages, with nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death. 'This is one of the world's worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time,' it added. Even the leader of Israel's strongest ally, US President Donald Trump, said this week that 'real starvation' was occurring in Gaza. However, despite the evidence, the Israeli campaign continues to deny that there is starvation in the war-torn enclave. The official X account of the State of Israel shared a post saying how a lie about starvation has gone "viral" and a child's illness was twisted by "propaganda". A lie went viral. A child's illness was twisted into propaganda. This isn't journalism. It's a blood libel. — Israel ישראל (@Israel) July 30, 2025 In another case, the same X account shared the video of 41-year-old Mohammad al-Hasanat, who allegedly suffered from untreated diabetes and died from complications related to this illness. Red herrings However, many doctors who served in Gaza's hospitals have already suggested many times how pre-existing illnesses are very hard to treat due to a lack of nutrition and proper healthcare, both of which are very limited due to Israel's continuing blockade of the strip. Doctors Without Borders has reported a sharp increase in child malnutrition across Gaza, with cases among children under five tripling in recent weeks amid the worsening humanitarian crisis. Even doctors have reported that they, too, have become too weak to care for the ill in Gaza due to a lack of proper nutrition. Nearly a dozen healthcare workers throughout the region have told The Guardian and Arabic Reporters for Investigative Journalism about their growing struggle to find food and the deterioration of their physical health caused by hunger. The New York Times put out a report about a child in Gaza named Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, who was diagnosed with severe malnutrition. The report said that 'After publication, The Times learned that he also had pre-existing health problems", suggesting that hunger was not to blame for his death. We have appended an Editors' Note to a story about Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, a child in Gaza who was diagnosed with severe malnutrition. After publication, The Times learned that he also had pre-existing health problems. Read more below. — NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) July 29, 2025 Several pro-Israeli voices capitalised on this and are now saying that Mutawaq's case proves that starvation in Gaza is 'a lie', which backs the ongoing Israeli campaign on social media. However, speaking to Middle East Eye for another article, Yasin Fatine, a London-based doctor specialising in paediatrics, said the photographs of Mutawaq and others were consistent with starvation, not their long-term disabilities. The claim that pre-existing illnesses of Palestinians are the actual cause of their deaths, and not starvation, also has faced backlash on social media, with many suggesting that Israel's continuous blockade of aid and food into Gaza is the actual cause of deaths. 154 Palestinians have officially died of hunger in the Gaza Strip. Israelis are busy explaining that we don't starve; we simply block the entry of medicine and formula into the Gaza Strip and if sick children die, it is all on Hamas. Israel has willfully detached itself from the… — Ori Goldberg (@ori_goldberg) July 30, 2025 In the meantime, Palestinians are still continuing to share proof of people being severely affected or dying from malnutrition. Abu Majdi is the latest victim of Israel's deliberate famine in Gaza Children are 1st to starve to death b/c they have low fat storages When healthy adults die by hunger, it means we're deep in famine territory 1kg of body fat = 7,700 calories, which burns over 9 days (in… — Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) July 28, 2025 Many international organisations, including the largest organisation representing Jews in the UK, have warned against the use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza and called for 'a massive and sustained flow of aid' into the besieged Palestinian enclave. Ammar Ammar of Unicef, the UN's aid agency for children, said in an interview with MEE: 'Malnutrition quickly weakens their immune systems, making common illnesses like diarrhoea and pneumonia far more deadly." While all of these expert opinions suggest that even if there are underlying illnesses that caused or contributed to the deaths of many Palestinians, the Israeli campaign claiming there is no starvation in Gaza seemed out of touch for many on social media.
