‘Amir walked 12km to get food’ and was shot – US mercenary on Gaza ‘death traps’
Amir is seen reaching out to thank former US contractor Anthony Aguilar in southern Gaza on 28 May 2025, moments before he was shot dead by Israeli forces
The Palestine Chronicle reports on 30 July 2025:
A retired US soldier who worked as a mercenary at aid distribution sites in Gaza said he witnessed a five-year-old Palestinian boy being shot and killed by Israeli soldiers who fired on aid seekers, just moments after the boy had thanked him for the food.
Anthony Aguilar, who served in the US military for 25 years, said in an interview on Tuesday that sharing the horrific story, which took place at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid site, “is emotional for me to get through” because of the “dehumanization” of Palestinians.
“I want to say to the American people and the people of Israel …. The civilians in Gaza that are getting the food, they are starving, they are not animals, they are being treated like animals,” he told UnXeptable, a platform by Israeli expats “for saving Israeli democracy,” according to its website.
Palestinians in one of the aid distribution centres in the Gaza Strip. Credit Anthony Aguilar
Alongside pictures on the screen, Aguilar described the scene on May 28 when little Amir was “standing…with the crowd.”
“But he walks over and … he kind of walks over to me and he puts out his hand. And at first I thought that he wanted more food or something and I felt bad because I didn’t have anything, but I was like, oh, I have nothing. And he puts out his hand and so I beckoned him to come to me. I said, come here,” Aguilar recounted.
He said Amir reached out “and he hold my hand and he kisses my hand. He kisses my hand and he says, Shukran (Thank You – PC).”