US contractor says 'Israeli' officer ordered sniper fire on unarmed Palestinian children

A US Army Green Beret assigned to help secure an aid distribution site in Gaza has come forward with explosive allegations against the 'Israeli' military, claiming he was ordered not to interfere as snipers prepared to shoot unarmed Palestinian children.

Anthony Aguilar, a decorated veteran with over two decades of military service, spoke in an interview with US Senator Chris Van Hollen, which was released on Tuesday. In the interview, Aguilar described an incident in which an 'Israeli' lieutenant colonel demanded that he remove children from the shoulders of a Palestinian man trying to help them escape a crushing crowd during an aid drop.

As starvation worsens by the day in Gaza, the Netanyahu govt has been using food as a weapon of war — with complicity from Trump & U.S. taxpayer dollars.

This is painful to listen to but here’s what a U.S. Army veteran & Green Beret who witnessed it first-hand recounted to me: pic.twitter.com/K6LNxN5P4Q

— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) July 29, 2025

“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.”

Aguilar said the officer then issued a chilling threat, “Get them down now or I will.”

Initially dismissing the comment as bluster, Aguilar said another American contractor, who spoke Hebrew, alerted him that the officer had instructed nearby snipers to open fire on 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 recalled.

He confronted the 'Israeli' officer, who reportedly replied, “I’m gonna take care of this if you don’t.”

The children eventually ran from the site, unharmed. But Aguilar said he made it clear he would not allow them to be shot, “They didn’t want to be there. They were unarmed. They didn’t have shoes. One wasn’t wearing a shirt. They were starving.”

Following the standoff, Aguilar says he was reprimanded by a senior executive at Safe Reach Solutions (SRS), a US mercenary firm operating in Gaza.

“He looked at me in the face and he said, ‘Never say no to the client,’” Aguilar recounted.

When Aguilar asked who the client was, he says the executive replied, “No, the Israeli Defence Forces… we work for them."

Aguilar is a former infantry officer who graduated from West Point and served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Central Asia across 12 combat deployments. He says he has since severed ties with UG Solutions and is choosing to speak publicly.

“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.”

UG Solutions reportedly terminated Aguilar’s contract for misconduct, according to a statement by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which oversees aid operations in the area. GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay also accused him of sharing “falsified documents” and “misleading videos.”

Aguilar, however, maintains that he witnessed violations of international law, including the shooting of unarmed civilians by both Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and US contractors. He described them as “war crimes” in interviews with other media outlets.