'Damn, boy, I think you got one': inside Gaza's deadly aid distribution centres

US whistleblower's videos raise questions about the hundreds of Palestinians killed at 'humanitarian' sites

- Ruth Michaelson

Ten days after Anthony Aguilar received a call from an eager recruiter for a private US security company, he entered Gaza, heavily armed and travelling on a tourist visa, with little understanding of the mission ahead.

The former Green Beret, a 25-year veteran of US special forces, was authorised to kill if he felt his safety was threatened, but said that he had barely been briefed before joining a security force intended to support the efforts of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) effort to deliver aid to a starving population.

The recruiter was from UG Solutions, a company Aguilar had never heard of until he got that phone call last May. Still, he wanted to help, and was recruited along with 450 other contractors. He did not know it yet, but his fellow contractors included members of an Islamophobic biker gang covered in tattoos of imagery and dates honouring the Crusades of the middle ages. One member of the Infidels Motorcycle Club was even promoted to a managerial position on site.

"When I decided to say yes to this, other military officers I've known for decades and some close friends were like... 'What are you doing? It's poorly planned. It's not well executed.' But I felt that I wanted to be part of the mission, of providing aid and relief to people that were in need," said Aguilar, speaking to The Observer for a podcast investigation into the lethal system of aid distribution in Gaza.

Aguilar was told that UG Solutions was looking for recent veterans with a background in special operations - an unusual requirement for a supposed aid mission. In interviews, he was asked when he last fired a weapon, but said the company did little to verify what he told them.