US contractors at Gaza aid group accused of 'firing live rounds at hungry Palestinians' outside distribution centres

The workers, employed by the controversial Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), were involved with the guarding of aid distribution centres in the region.

The contractors had claimed "their colleagues regularly lobbed stun grenades and pepper spray in the direction of the Palestinians" and "bullets were fired in all directions - in the air, into the ground and at times toward the Palestinians, recalling at least one instance where he thought someone had been hit," according to AP.

The reports came under the promise of anonymity, given the details related to internal security workings, with the GHF branding the allegations "categorically false".

The GHF is run by the US and Israel, with teams mostly staffed by private American contractors, who the contractors say are often unqualified, unvetted and heavily armed.

At least 600 Palestinians have been killed and 4,066 injured while waiting for food aid at sites run by the GHF, according to the Gaza Government Media Office.

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The two employees told AP they were coming forward because they were disturbed by the ‘dangerous and irresponsible’ practices.

"There are innocent people being hurt. Badly. Needlessly," the contractor told AP.

Shootings outside food distribution sites have been widely reported since Israel eased its blockade of humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, in May and began managing the distribution of aid itself.

Before this, Israel had imposed a complete blockade on the Gaza Strip for almost 3 months, claiming Hamas had been profiting off the aid by selling it to starving Palestinians.

While the UN would distribute aid through hundreds of sites across the enclave, the GHF does so at four militarised sites, three of which are in the far south of the Gaza strip.

Thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands, of desperate Palestinians descend on the aid sites every day during the short windows in which they are open.

Footage has emerged of a number of instances where large crowds are being shot at while waiting to enter the compounds. In one video reportedly provided by a contractor, the sound of gunfire can be heard ringing out as hundreds of Palestinians are crammed between tight metal gates.

The footage does not show where the bullets and stun grenades are coming from.

A second clip provided by American contractors has the sound of gunfire in the background. As soon as the gunfire stops, a man is heard shouting: "Whoo! Whoo!” while another says "I think you hit one.”

"Hell, yeah, boy!" a third man is heard shouting in the video. The contractor that recorded it said the men shouting had been shooting in the direction of Palestinians.

Another whistleblower - a former contractor at the foundation - told the BBC team leaders refer to starving Palestinians queuing for aid as ‘zombie hordes… insinuating that these people have no value."

The GHF has strongly denied the news agency's allegations, calling them ‘categorically false’. It said it has investigated the claims.

In a statement on X, GHF wrote: "Based on time-stamped video footage and sworn witness statements, we have concluded that the claims in the AP's story are categorically false. At no point were civilians under fire at a GHF distribution site.

"The gunfire heard in the video was confirmed to have originated from the IDF, who was outside the immediate vicinity of the GHF distribution site.

"It was not directed at individuals, and no one was shot or injured. What is most troubling is that the AP refused to share the full video with us prior to publication, despite the seriousness of the allegations."

It comes after reports of Israeli soldiers saying their commanders have ordered them to deliberately shoot at unarmed Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza, describing it as a ‘killing field’.

Soldiers and officers in the IDF have now told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz they were told to fire at the crowds of civilians to disperse them, even when they didn’t pose a threat.

“Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day,” one soldier said. “They’re treated like a hostile force — no crowd-control measures, no tear gas — just live fire with everything imaginable: heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars.

“Then, once the center opens, the shooting stops, and they know they can approach. Our form of communication is gunfire.”

The soldier said he was “not aware of a single instance of return fire. There’s no enemy, no weapons.”

Another soldier, who operates a tank, told the newspaper that, while the army sometimes uses tank fire as warnings, “firing shells has just become standard practice. Every time we fire, there are casualties and deaths, and when someone asks why a shell is necessary, there’s never a good answer. Sometimes, merely asking the question annoys the commanders.”

The Israeli Military Advocate General has ordered an investigation to be opened into potential violations of the laws of war, trying to find out if some of the killings at the aid sites constitute war crimes.

The Israeli army “strongly rejected” the accusations in the report, and Israeli PM Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz have both denied the allegations of war crimes, calling them ‘blood libels’.

Amnesty International has accused the GHF using starvation tactics against Palestinians to continue to commit genocide in the Gaza Strip during Israel's war with Hamas.

The human rights group published a report on Thursday condemning Israel and the GHF, saying Israel has "turned aid-seeking into a booby trap for desperate starved Palestinians" through the militarised aid hubs.

The conditions have created "a deadly mix of hunger and disease pushing the population past breaking point".

"This devastating daily loss of life as desperate Palestinians try to collect aid is the consequence of their deliberate targeting by Israeli forces and the foreseeable consequence of irresponsible and lethal methods of distribution," said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty's secretary general.

Israel's foreign minister denounced the Amnesty report, saying the organisation has "joined forces with Hamas and fully adopted all of its propaganda lies".

The foreign ministry and COGAT, the Israeli defence body in charge of co-ordinating aid to Gaza, said Israel has facilitated the entry of more than 3,000 aid trucks into the Gaza Strip since May 19 and GHF has delivered boxes of food with the equivalent of 56 million meals.

Humanitarian organisations say that amount is not nearly enough to meet the overwhelming need in Gaza.

Amnesty's report follows a statement earlier this week from more than 165 major international charities and non-governmental organizations calling for an immediate end to the foundation.

They say the new mechanism allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles and is ineffective.

It is the latest sign of trouble for the GHF, a secretive initiative headed by an evangelical leader who is a close ally of US President Donald Trump.

Last month, the US government pledged 30 million dollars (£22 million) for the group to continue operation, the first known US donation to the group, whose other funding sources remain opaque.