Over 25 years serving in the US military, Anthony Aguilar took part in various American wars around the world, including in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Yet, despite his experience fighting on the side of US interests, his brief experience on the ground in Gaza revealed to him the scale of war crimes and genocide perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians.
It was "unlike anything seen anywhere in the world, a scale of destruction and inhumanity I've never witnessed before", he said.
In an extensive interview with The New Arab's Arabic edition, Aguilar gives his first-hand testimony from the short time he spent working with the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, detailing how Israel used food as a weapon to starve Palestinians and how, through formal contracts with the company Safe Reach Solutions, it controlled the quantities of food allowed into Gaza.
He describes how American contractors and Israeli forces targeted starving civilians – men, women and children – at four aid distribution sites operated by the organisation. He supported his testimony with videos and photos.
The interview was conducted by Mohammed al-Badawi, Al-Araby al-Jadeed's correspondent in Washington. It has been slightly edited for clarity.