The viral story of a Gazan boy killed by Israel’s military at an aid distribution site is under question in light of new body cam footage from the day of the incident and an interview with a woman who’s been identified as the boy’s stepmother who insists he was alive after it occurred.
In a video exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire, a woman who says she is the boy’s stepmother, Siham Al-Jarabe’a, disputes the account given by former Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) contractor Tony Aguilar. Aguilar says he met a boy named “Amir” while working at a GHF aid site on May 28, and saw him killed by the Israel Defense Forces that day. His account has since gone viral, fueling criticism of Israel as well as the United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
But Al-Jarabe’a — who has been interviewed on several media outlets — says her stepson, Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hamdan Al-Jarabe’a, went missing on July 28 and was alive with her for two months after the date Aguilar claims he saw him die.
Al-Jarabe’a says she believes Aboud, as he’s known to family (Al-Jarabe’a says Aguilar was responsible for spreading the nickname “Amir”) is still alive, as she has seen no death certificate or body, and suspects he may have been kidnapped.
In a video filmed on August 5, Al-Jarabe’a is asked repeatedly what day her son went missing, to which she replied July 28 — about a week before.
Al-Jarabe’a said that she left Amir at home at 6AM on July 28 and went to a GHF site for aid. When she returned home, Amir was missing. Two days later, she saw Aguilar’s footage from May and thought he was the last person to see her son.
Interview 👇 pic.twitter.com/nMN2Y6EbuW
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) August 11, 2025
“July 28 is the last time you saw the boy? Today is August 5,” the Arabic-speaking interviewer says to Al-Jarabe’a. The Arabic interview’s translation into English has been independently verified by The Daily Wire.
“Yes,” she replied.
“So almost a week ago?”
“Yes.”
Aguilar’s Video and New Footage
Aguilar first spoke about Amir on an American podcast called Unexeptible, which discloses on a fundraising page that it exists only to criticize the Israeli government. The interview took place on July 28, the same day Al-Jarabe’a says her son went missing. During the interview, Aguilar recounts how he met Amir at GHF’s Safe Distribution Site 2.
Aguilar says in the interview that he told the boy, “People care. You’re a human being and people care about you,” before he kneeled down and placed his hands on the side of Amir’s face. He adds that Amir, the boy, responded by kissing him and saying thank you in English, only to walk away and get shot an hour later.
“He sets his food down, and he places his hands on my face — on the side of my face, on my cheeks — these frail, skeleton, emaciated hands, dirty. And he puts them on my face, and he kissed me. He kissed me, and he said, ‘Thank you,’ in English. Thank you. And he collected his items, and he walked back to the group, and then he was shot at with pepper spray and tear gas and stun grenades and bullets — shot at his feet and in the air — and he runs away, scared.”
Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hamdan al-Jarabe’a kissing the hand of a GHF contractor.
His story was picked up days later by MSNBC, which did a special report on Aguilar’s allegation that the boy was “gunned down” and killed.
But in response to questions from The Daily Wire, Aguilar clarified that while he saw “Amir’s” motionless body on the ground, he could not verify that he was dead. Aguilar said that, based on his 25 years of experience in the Army, he assessed the boy was “dead or, at a minimum, fatally wounded.”
“I saw Amir’s body on the ground, having fallen/dropped to the ground amidst the gunfire from the IDF, which was being fired toward the crowd as a crowd control measure to keep them moving in a westerly direction to the Morag Corridor as they left the site,” Aguilar said. “It has always been my position that he, and others, were dead. The body wasn’t moving. Others ran or limped away. I, nor anyone, could verify that he was dead.”
“Considering that he has not been found, and he has not been seen, it is safe to say that my assessment is correct,” Aguilar added. “However, if he were to be alive, that would be a blessing. Yet it does not excuse the firing of ‘warning shots’ at/toward/near a group of unarmed civilians.”
The GHF maintains that no incident involving IDF fire on civilians occurred at their distribution site that day. It adds that even if such an incident had taken place, Aguilar could not have witnessed it, as GHF contractors are prohibited from leaving the secure aid sites — which are set back from the IDF’s position, lack a clear line of sight, and are separated by physical barriers such as sand mounds.
The IDF did not report any incidents taking place on May 28.
A review of body cam footage of an American security contractor standing next to Aguilar also shows a very different interaction than what has been described by Aguilar.
The boy is seen walking up to the man with the body cam and kissing his hand. He then turns to Aguilar, and appears to ask for assistance with getting the crowd to let them take food. Aguilar then touches the boy’s shoulders and chest.
“This little young man here, obviously pretty young, he has food,” Aguilar says while recording his video. “Go home, go home, okay? Thank you.”
The little boy then walks away into the crowd.
The contractor wearing the body cam told The Daily Wire that Aguilar’s story is “fabricated.”
“There is no profound English dialog, kneeling at his level, nor does the boy drop his aid to kiss Tony and say ‘thank you’ to him in English.”
Side-by-side video👇 pic.twitter.com/YaQpDmw4CN
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) August 11, 2025
Aguilar confirmed to The Daily Wire that the footage below is the full extent of the interaction. Asked why the video does not show the full interaction he described, Aguilar insisted in a statement that it transpired off camera, and that the hand shown being kissed was his.
“The video you show misses the moments of the key elements you are claiming to discredit, yet your video doesn’t ‘not’ show it, and you weren’t there, and I am on the record,” Aguilar said. “I did not embellish. And it is clearly evident that Amir and I had the interaction.”
The security contractor wearing the body cam told The Daily Wire that Aguilar’s story is “fabricated.”
“The hand in his picture is my hand,” the contractor said, describing how he knows it’s not Aguilar’s. “I have discolored pigment from a burn on that hand, and I see the blood under my fingernail growing out from smashing it at home before coming here. The boy disappeared back into the aid after Tony walks off from him. There is no profound English dialog, kneeling at his level, nor does the boy drop his aid to kiss Tony and say ‘thank you’ to him in English. Tony completely fabricated this story.”’
On May 29, a day after the alleged incident, Aguilar sent a “daily impact report” to his fellow teammates where he praised them for their work and included two pictures of Amir.
“Your efforts have brought families back together and have severely weakened the image of Hamas,” Aguilar wrote in the texts released by the GHF after Aguilar first went public with his accusations. “GREAT JOB.”
Tony Aguilar praising his teammates on May 29 along with two photos of Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hamdan al-Jarabe’a aka “Amir.”
Amir’s Stepmother Says The Boy Was Alive After May 28
According to Amir’s stepmother, the boy was not killed on the day he appeared in Aguilar’s footage — he lived for at least another two months after May 28.
News of Aguilar’s story greatly confused Al-Jarabe’a, who does not own a phone with an internet connection and first saw his footage about two days after she says her son went missing on July 28.
Until the August 5 interview, she believed that Aguilar mixed up his dates and actually took the footage in July instead of May. Aguilar’s work with GHF ended in June, when he was terminated by the security contractor staffing aid sites “due to poor performance, volatile conflicts with staff, and erratic behavior.”
“The American made a mistake by saying he saw the boy May 15,” the grieving mother said, mixing up the May dates. “This is from two months ago. No, the boy went to the Americans on July 28.”
When she is told Aguilar’s photo is from May, she denies it, affirming that the footage must have been taken on July 28, the day her son went missing.
“I tell you that this picture that was on the news, was not from July 28,” the interviewer says, showing a picture of Amir.
“No, it was July 28.”
Al-Jarabe’a said that she left Amir at home at 6:00 a.m. on July 28 and went to a GHF site to pick up aid with her daughter. When she returned home, Amir was missing. Two days later, her neighbor saw Aguilar’s story and footage and told her that Amir was killed when visiting GHF’s SDS2 site.
“A woman came and told me that it looks like your son Aboud was martyred,” she said. “I told her I’m shocked.”
Aguilar’s claim of where the incident happened also confused Amir’s mother who said in the interview that her son had never been to SDS2 — which she calls Al Shakosh — before, and that she was confused when she heard where he was because it was much further from their home from the SDS3 site where the family has been going to get aid.
Aguilar repeated the claim that he met Amir at SDS2 in several interviews, but clarified to The Daily Wire after being presented with evidence from GHF’s daily operational emails that SDS2 was not operational on May 28, that it must have happened at SDS3.
GHF Operational Update emailed to press on May 28.
“I was surprised to find out he was at Al Shakosh,” Al-Jarabe’a said, adding that the only reason she thought Amir went to the site was from Aguilar’s claims in the press.
“How did you find out he was at Al Shakosh?” the interviewer asked.
“The American released his photo.”
“Okay, so you’re basing your information on the story by the American?”
“Yes.”
“So not because you knew he was going to Al Shakosh?”
“No. I thought he was going to Al Tina (SDS3).”
The Daily Wire reviewed interviews with two of Al-Jarabe’a’s neighbors also confirming that Amir went missing on July 28.
Al-Jarabe’a said upon realizing Amir was missing, she thought he must’ve followed her after she left for SDS3.
The photos and videos of Aguilar shared with the press gave his stepmother hope she would find Amir, because she did not realize they were taken in May. She has spent over a week going to morgues, hospitals, and humanitarian organizations in search of a sign of life, she says.
In the interview, she said she had spoken with Aguilar days before, but wanted to clarify with him what exactly he saw.
“I want to reach the American whom my son kissed his hand, to talk to him and ask him: did you see him die in front of you? Did you see the boy die with your own eyes? I mean, you said you gave your resignation when you saw the moment in front of you.”
Aguilar provided The Daily Wire with a Zoom recording where he, Al-Jarabe’a, and activists were present. In the Zoom, Aguilar shares the same claims he has made about Aguilar, and mentions that the incident took place on May 28. When Aguilar’s comments are translated into Arabic, the translator does not mention when Aguilar took the video. Aguilar says the Zoom, during which Al-Jarabe’a was having connection issues, took place on August 3.
Al-Jarabe’a responds in Arabic, stating that she’s been searching for her son since the 28th — without specifying which month, and says she has still yet to find any evidence showing if her son is dead or alive.
Reports in both Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye share heavily-edited videos of Al-Jarabe’a, who says she is searching for her son without any mention of when he went missing.
Both reports accurately name Amir as Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hamdan al-Jarabe’a. According to al-Jarabe’a, she saw Aguilar call her son “Amir” and believed it was because the boy had kissed the hand of an Amir (Arabic for “prince”) — referring to Aguilar.
“He was named Al Amir when he kissed the hand of the Amir,” she said. “And the nickname stuck.”
When asked how she found out about the nickname, she said it came from the internet.
“From the internet, they said ‘the child Amir.”
Aguilar told The Daily Wire that he believes Amir was an already existing nickname.
“Surely, as anyone can understand, Amir was his nickname,” he said. “My name, for example, is Anthony Aguilar, but I go by ‘Tony.’”
Despite Aguilar’s insistence, Al-Jarabe’a still believes that her son is alive.
“I believe my son is alive — he didn’t die,” she said. “I feel strong because if he died in Al Shakosh — I entered Al Shakosh — they for sure would have given him treatment,” she added, referring to the basic medical attention GHF provides to aid seekers.
She adds that in Aguilar’s footage, Amir is surrounded by a crowd, and someone would have been able to provide her more information.
“My son was not alone,” she said. “When the American said he was shot and fell, he was surrounded by a lot of people.”
According to GHF, Augilar’s contract was terminated on June 13 “due to poor performance, volatile conflicts with staff, and erratic behavior.” In several screenshots of text messages provided to the press, Aguilar is seen both lashing out at GHF staff and asking for his job back. In a screenshot provided to The Daily Wire of GHF’s executive team chat, a leader reiterates on June 13 that Aguilar was fired after being given a chance at two different locations and still getting “negative feedback.”
Screenshots of text messages regarding Tony Aguilar’s employment at GHF. (Courtesy)
“Last straw was planning today and being disruptive and unprofessional,” the leader writes.
On June 22 Aguilar wrote to a GHF employee: “I can be your best friend, or your worst nightmare. Stop F-ing around, put me back to work, and let’s get this mission done.”
Aguilar claims he was not fired, but resigned.
After returning to the United States, Aguilar went to the media — first anonymously, then on the record — to voice his grievances about GHF operations, including the story of Amir.
