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Security firms employing U.S. military veterans for a controversial food distribution operation in Gaza have exposed them to the risk of criminal charges under U.S. laws against war crimes, torture, and forced deportation, four Democrats in Congress said Thursday.
In a letter to the two firms’ CEOs, Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and three other lawmakers said they were “horrified” by reporting about the companies’ “deadly” security operations on behalf of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
“We are deeply concerned that you may have failed to alert your personnel — or investors — of the immense legal risks they face.”The members of Congress say that news reports and firsthand witnesses indicated employees for Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions were “sent to Gaza armed for combat” and directed by Israeli officials to use lethal force.
“As a result, we are deeply concerned that you may have failed to alert your personnel — or investors — of the immense legal risks they face for conducting what amounts to military operations on behalf of the Israeli government on land outside of the State of Israel,” the lawmakers say.
They asked the companies to answer a series of questions about whether they had warned staffers about their legal risks, including from international courts, and to preserve documents related to their interactions with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The letter represents the latest ratcheting up of congressional pressure — so far all from Democrats — on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and the contractors supporting its operations in the Middle East.
Founded only in February, the foundation became the main conduit for U.S.- and Israeli-backed aid into Gaza after Israel lifted a total blockade at the end of May.
The foundation’s decision to employ armed contractors at its sites, and its close cooperation with Israel, have drawn widespread condemnation from other aid groups who say they violate core humanitarian principles. Some of the security contractors supporting its operations are former U.S. service members, including Special Operations veterans.
Welch was joined by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Democratic U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro of Texas and Sara Jacobs of California. Castro and Jacobs’s districts in San Antonio and San Diego, respectively, are home to large populations of U.S. military veterans.
Hundreds of people have died trying to access aid at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s distribution points, according to the United Nations, many of them under Israeli fire.
The foundation’s chair has brushed off reports of chaos and violence at its distribution sites as “Hamas disinformation” and boasted about its success.
Dozens of Senate Democrats in a letter earlier this week said the foundation had failed to address the growing crisis in Gaza and called on President Donald Trump’s administration to expand aid through other nonprofits.
The post U.S. Security Contractors in Gaza Risk War Crimes Charges, Democrats Say appeared first on The Intercept.
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