I find it amazing how the UN and academics can come up with topics for funding research papers that few would ever think of, and I don’t necessarily mean that in a positive way.
Reference UNICEF report, February 2026: ‘Private Military Companiesand Child Rights,’ by Prof. Dr. Christopher Kinsey and Dr. Özlem. See: https://www.unicef.org/innocenti/media/12491/file/UNICEF-Innocenti-Private-Military-Companies-Working-Paper-February-2026.pdf.pdf
War is war… Wars in the past were far worse on civilians than wars today fought by “civilized” states abiding by the Geneva Conventions and standards. How war is conducted and how civilians are treated depends on the culture, ideology, tribe and society of the belligerents. For example, the Civil War in Syria was/is brutal against civilians, with mass executions, rape, etc.; the present war in Sudan has both sides, the RSF and SAF (which has a big element of tribalism), openly targeting civilians, with mass executions, rape, for famine, etc., where its estimated over 150,000 people or more have died in short time.
War can and will have detrimental effects on children and civilians in general, and that’s a given! PMCs, foreign volunteers, armies, armed forces, air forces, navies, guerrillas/insurgents/irregular armies, warriors/tribesmen, militias, terrorists, etc., are all part of the game and can all have detrimental effects on children and civilians, of course.
I checked out a section of the report on Hamas and Gaza, and the PMSCs hired for food protection. About the PMSCs and the situation, it says (pages 13-14):
“The activities of US private contractors operating Private Military Companies and Child Rights 14 under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) illustrate how this “grey zone” can negatively affect humanitarian operations.
In February 2025, the American nonprofit GHF was created to deliver food, medical aid, and other essentials in coordination with the Israeli military during the ongoing crisis in Gaza.59 When it began operations in May, GHF replaced over 400 UN-run distribution points in response to claims that aid to Gaza was being stolen by Hamas under a preexisting system coordinated by the UN.60 GHF contracted two US companies, Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions, to provide site security for its hubs.61 However, instead of facilitating aid, their role soon became linked to the denial of humanitarian access and civilian casualties. According to a 22 July 2025 statement by the OHCHR office in the State of Palestine, since May of that year, Israeli forces had killed 1,054 Palestinians, including children, while attempting to access food, with 766 of these deaths occurring near GHF sites.62 These figures add weight to first-hand accounts from contractors about what was happening on the ground at these sites. Media cited anonymous contractor testimonies from both entities reported unprovoked use of excessive force (including live fires, stun grenades, and pepper spray) by their personnel against unarmed civilians at aid distribution points.”
Boy oh boy, is that a pile of bovine scatology! No counter referencing? No deep dive? No verification? No comments or sourcing from the American PMSCs? Or asking the Egyptian PMSCs? Or asking the Israeli authorities? Or referencing some other organizations?
Notice the report doesn’t mention the Egyptian PMSC that was operating in the same capacity as the US PMSCs in Gaza. I wonder why? I had noticed next to no reports about the Egyptians while the food protection task was in motion and up to the time the contracts ended. This could be because the Egyptians are generally very tight-lipped— I know the Egyptians well.
Photo Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images
The fact is, Gazans were fed because of the PMSCs’ presence and actions —but that doesn’t matter to the report. The PMSCs, both Egyptian and American, were not killing Gazans. Even when there is a positive outcome, this paper has an extreme bias agenda and narrative. Again, Children (and civilians) were fed because of this operation. Hamas was stealing the food (as a means to control the population and to artificially create victimhood, re: playing on Western ignorance and the extreme over-empathy phenomenon— which is a negative thing, not a positive), and bandits stole food, as both were selling that food on the black market.
The PMSC’s presence also helped to protect the civilians from Hamas, PIJ, and other groups from harming civilians while getting the food. The terrorists intentionally harmed civilians for effect, re: playing on Western ignorance and the extreme over-empathy phenomenon.
Re: “Media cited anonymous contractor testimonies from both entities reported unprovoked use of excessive force…” — There was one disgruntled contractor who complained and he was hardly anonymous!! He threatened the company that he’d raise hell if he wasn’t rehired. Anthony Aguilar is a vindictive sociopathic gaslighting liar, and he was very public; he appeared as a guest on Tucker Carlson. Everything Aguilar claimed is verifiably misleading and a lie. Yet, this UNICEF report says Aguilar was anonymous. This is really bad research or malevolence at work, or both.
Of the alleged number of civilian deaths during the food distribution that occurred while Egyptians and US PMSCs operated, many were terrorists who attacked the IDF nearby, sparking battles and skirmishes. So, of course, civilians were caught in the crossfire, especially when terrorists attacked from or ran into the civilian crowds at aid distribution sites and camps.
Many civilians were outright killed by Hamas, other groups or bandits, for reasons such as, again, to create victims to play on Western ignorance and the extreme over-empathy phenomenon, and to intimidate and control Gazans. To Hamas and PIJ, civilians can be and are sacrificial beings for their religiopolitical ideology. Meanwhile, Hamas and its allies sought to ensure the food distribution failed for effect.
I have an American friend who worked with the American PMSCs in Gaza who told me he’d seen Gazans stab each other in the scramble to get food at the aid distribution sites. “They’re desperate,” he said. This means we can add Gazan-on-Gazan violence to the casualty figure.
This same friend also said that food was definitely getting to the people while they were there.
Also, the report makes no mention of the local Palestinian PSCs hired to protect the food delivery and transportation, who fought Hamas, and who managed to get food to the distribution centres.
Having the ‘OHCHR office in the State of Palestine’ report on such things, and making any claims, is as reliable as doing a tight rope act using dental floss.
And the UN wastes money on such silly reports.
—RdM