US contractors say their colleagues are firing live ammo as Palestinians seek food in Gaza

[Uncle Joe]

BEERSHEBA, Israel (AP) — American contractors guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food, according to accounts and videos obtained by The Associated Press.

Two U.S. contractors, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were revealing their employers’ internal operations, said they were coming forward because they were disturbed by what they considered dangerous and irresponsible practices. They said the security staff hired were often unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed and seemed to have an open license to do whatever they wished.

They said their colleagues regularly lobbed stun grenades and pepper spray in the direction of the Palestinians. One contractor said 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.

(snip)

Videos provided by one of the contractors and taken at the sites show hundreds of Palestinians crowded between metal gates, jostling for aid amid the sound of bullets, stun grenades and the sting of pepper spray. Other videos include conversation between English-speaking men discussing how to disperse crowds and encouraging each other after bursts of gunfire.

(snip)

https://apnews.com/article/palestinians-israel-gaza-contractors-aid-distribution-fe27f3ea83e06a09d66424eed7a5d56f

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kick n/t

[democrank]

2. Kick

[duhneece]

3. Kick nt

[erodriguez]

4. Sickening. These mercenaries need to be tried for war crimes

[Kid Berwyn]

5. Bibi may consider it justice.

Killing civilians in cold blood is a war crime.

[Iamscrewed]

6. Nazi tactics

Wonder where they got that idea?

[vanessa_ca]

8. I watched the AP report on Al Jazeera last night. Nazi tactics is exactly what I saw.

They'd wait for desperately starving people to advance for food and start deliberately shooting at them, whooping in glee when they hit someone.

HOW SICK IS THAT?

[IronLionZion]

7. Winning hearts and minds as always

They are not there to provide aid. They are there to clear out some beach front property for new Trump resorts

[AloeVera]

9. "Hell, yeah, boy!"

In one video, what appear to be heavily armed American security contractors at one of the sites in Gaza discuss how to disperse Palestinians nearby. One is heard saying he has arranged for a “show of force” by Israeli tanks.

“I don’t want this to be too aggressive,” he adds, “because this is calming down.”

At that moment, bursts of gunfire erupt close by, at least 15 shots. “Whoo! Whoo!” one contractor yelps.

“I think you hit one,” one says.

Then comes a shout: “Hell, yeah, boy!”

Thank God the American mercenaries humanitarians have arrived. To help their humanitarian brethren in the IDF, the most genocidal moral army in the world!

[Beastly Boy]

10. Also from the article:

The [AP] analysts said that the bursts of gunfire and the pop sequences in some of the videos indicated that guns were panning in different directions and were not repeatedly aimed at a single target. They could not pinpoint exactly where the shots were coming from nor who was shooting.

GHF says the Israeli military is not deployed at the aid distribution sites. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said the army is not stationed at the sites or within their immediate proximity, especially during operating hours. He said they’re run by an American company and have their own security.

One of the contractors who had been on the sites said he’d never felt a real or perceived threat by Hamas there.

SRS says that Hamas has openly threatened its aid workers and civilians receiving aid. It did not specify where people were threatened.

and

The AP cannot independently verify the contractors’ stories.

Mentioned twice. Yet, the default assumption here is that the article is fact-based and not a recitation of hearsay, which it is.

Why do you think this is the case?

[iemanja]

11. Evil fucks.