• U.S. contractors at aid sites in Gaza have fired live ammunition at Palestinians seeking food.
• Testimonies reveal chaotic and violent practices, raising concerns over humanitarian operations.
• Hundreds of Palestinians have reportedly been killed and injured amid the aid distributions.
• The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's practices and funding sources have come under scrutiny.
• Israeli military denies targeting civilians and is investigating reports of harm.

U.S. contractors overseeing aid distribution in Gaza have used live ammunition, stun grenades, and pepper spray against Palestinians desperately seeking food, according to testimonies and video evidence obtained by the Associated Press (AP). Two contractors disclosed these practices on the condition of anonymity due to concerns regarding employer retaliation, pointing to a troubling lack of oversight and training among security staff, who often acted with impunity. "There are innocent people being hurt. Badly. Needlessly," one contractor remarked, raising alarms about the aggressive crowd control methods used at the sites, as reported by HuffPost and TRTWorld.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), established with American support in February 2023, has faced scrutiny for its operations following a three-month blockade imposed by Israel that severely limited food and aid access. As GHF began its operations in late May, over 500 Palestinians reportedly lost their lives, with internal documentation indicating that security personnel frequently employed crowd control measures even in the absence of threats, using 37 stun grenades and 60 cans of pepper spray in a single distribution, according to reports from Middle East Eye and Africanews.

Footage provided by contractors illustrates chaotic scenes where Palestinians, pressed between metal gates, scramble for food amid loud blasts and gunfire. In these videos, English-speaking contractors can be heard discussing how to disperse crowds while shots are fired, underscoring the chaotic atmosphere at the distribution sites. One contractor witnessed a fellow security staff member shooting toward departing Palestinian civilians, prompting serious concerns about the operational integrity of the GHF, as highlighted by HuffPost and TRTWorld.

Safe Reach Solutions, the logistics company managing security at the GHF sites, claims that no serious injuries have been reported, describing the security measures as essential during periods of high tension. However, internal reports contradict this assertion, revealing injuries among aid seekers in over 31 percent of distributions during a two-week period in June. Notably, humanitarian agencies and human rights groups have raised alarms about Israel's military practices, with Amnesty International claiming the use of starvation as a means of warfare, which the Israeli government categorically denies, accusing Amnesty of spreading propaganda, according to HuffPost and Africanews.

In addition, the document reveals that surveillance systems monitor the crowds with facial recognition software, purportedly linking certain individuals to adverse reputations while sharing this intelligence with Israeli forces. Following an internal email's critique labeling the operations as "not sustainable," contractors expressed fear that continued practices would lead to more unnecessary harm. Hence, many call for a transition back to the United Nations-led aid system, which previously managed a more extensive network of aid distribution points across Gaza, as pointed out by Middle East Eye and TRTWorld.