A retired US Army officer who exposed Israeli atrocities at aid distribution sites in Gaza was forcibly removed from a Senate hearing after interrupting proceedings to accuse lawmakers of complicity in genocide.
Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Aguilar, a former Green Beret, and Captain Josephine Guilbeau, a former US intelligence officer, stood up during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, declaring their constitutional duty to speak out against Israel’s war on Gaza.
Capitol Police escorted both from the room.
Aguilar — who became a whistleblower against so called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial US-backed contractor running aid sites under Israeli military oversight — has since become a prominent advocate for Palestinian rights.
He has appeared in media recounting abuses he says he witnessed first-hand, including the killing of a starving boy named Amir.
"After my service in Gaza, I became an activist defending Palestinian rights. I speak out so the world knows what is happening," Aguilar has said, recalling Amir’s story.
'Designed death traps'
Aguilar worked with GHF subcontractor UG Solutions until May 2024, when he publicly described aid distribution sites in Gaza as "designed death traps."
He alleged Israeli forces directed contractors to lure desperate civilians to collection points with food before unleashing live fire, tear gas, and mortar rounds on the crowds as they left.
On May 28, he said, he watched a boy named Amir — barefoot, emaciated, and carrying a small bag of rice, lentils, and flour — thank him in English before walking back toward his family. Minutes later, Aguilar said, Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd.
"Amir placed his hands on my face, kissed me, and said 'thank you.' Then he was shot at along with the others. Amir was killed that day," Aguilar recounted.
He told US commentator Tucker Carlson: "This little boy wasn’t a combatant. He was barefoot and starving. And then he was shot dead."
Aguilar says Israeli liaison officers directly commanded operations, even ordering snipers to fire on children climbing barriers to avoid being trampled.
"I was told very explicitly: our client is the Israeli army," he recalled.
Senate disruption
Aguilar’s protest in the Senate follows months of testimony in interviews and podcasts where he described the Gaza aid system as resembling "The Hunger Games."
He said starving Palestinians were forced to run up to 12 kilometers to aid points, often barefoot, only to face "indiscriminate shooting" and chemical crowd control weapons.
"They don’t speak English. They don’t know where to go. And instead of translators or loudspeakers, we used weapons," he said.
On Tuesday, he stood in the Senate hearing room and declared that US officials were complicit.
"I swore an oath to defend the Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic," Aguilar told senators before being removed.
"Right now, this body is funding genocide."
Aguilar’s whistleblowing has drawn support from progressive lawmakers.
Senator Bernie Sanders has praised him as a decorated Purple Heart veteran who exposed "atrocities committed using American taxpayer dollars."
Sanders posted a video of Aguilar’s testimony, calling it "evidence of war crimes" committed under the guise of humanitarian relief.
Aguilar insists he is not politically motivated.
"I’m not running for office. I don’t sell books. I don’t even have social media," he said.
"I’m a 25-year Army veteran. I bled for this country. I was there. I held Amir’s hand. I saw it with my own eyes."
