Children

This section documents the crimes targeting Palestinian children during the war on the Gaza Strip, including indiscriminate attacks and bombings that resulted in the death and injury of hundreds of innocent children. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) stated that the Gaza Strip has become the most dangerous place for children in the world, and a UNICEF official said, "A child suffering from illness in Gaza is condemned to a slow death because they cannot receive the treatment they need, and it is unlikely they will survive long enough to leave." Since October 7, 2023, Israeli occupation forces have killed more than sixteen thousand Palestinian children.

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Horrific Injuries to Children

Children Martyrs Under the Rubble

The civil defense teams retrieved children from under the rubble following the bombardment of their home by Israeli occupation aircraft.

Massacre of Child Hind Rajab Family and the Ambulance Crew

Twelve days after a horrific massacre against the Hamada family, the child Hind Rajab, and the Red Crescent ambulance crew, the Israeli occupation army withdrew from the Tel al-Hawa area. The bodies of the martyrs were discovered decomposing near the Fares station, with evidence of destruction in the area indicating the intentional targeting of civilians, children, and paramedics by the Israeli occupation forces.

On January 29, 2024, the Palestinian Red Crescent received a call from Lian Hamada (14 years old), who requested assistance. She mentioned that an Israeli tank fired at their vehicle in the “Finance Roundabout” area of Tel al-Hawa in the southwestern part of the city. During the call, Lian’s screams were heard alongside a barrage of gunfire, and then the call abruptly ended. The Palestinian Red Crescent later released an audio recording in which Lian tried to inform the ambulance services about her situation, saying: “Uncle, they are shooting at us, the tank is next to us, we are in the car, and the tank is beside us.” After that, the sound of gunfire was heard while Lian screamed, leading to the disconnection of the call.

Subsequently, Red Crescent personnel attempted to call back and found that Hind, aged 6, was still alive. Smeih Hamada, Hind’s uncle, explained that he continued to communicate with Hind and tried to reassure her that the ambulance was on its way to evacuate her from the site.

Later, after 12 days of losing contact with the Red Crescent crew, the bodies of the martyrs were found on Saturday, February 10, 2023. The child Hind Rajab Hamada (6 years old) and five of her family members, including Bashar Hamada along with his wife and children Muhammad (11 years old), Lian (14 years old), and Raghad (13 years old), were discovered after their vehicle had been trapped twelve days earlier in the Tel al-Hawa area, southwest of Gaza City. The Red Crescent announced the discovery of its ambulance in the Tel al-Hawa area of Gaza City, stating that “the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance was found damaged in Tel al-Hawa in Gaza City, resulting in the death of paramedics Youssef Zeino and Ahmad Al-Madhoun, who had gone missing while on a mission to rescue the child Hind Rajab.”

Massacre Against Displaced Children with Their Families

Children, women, and elderly individuals are victims of the Israeli occupation aircraft’s bombardment on a house sheltering various displaced families while they were asleep in Al-Zawida area in the central Gaza Strip.

Child Hani Hani Mahmoud Qeshta

“Born in war and martyred in war.”

Doctors extracted the child Hani Hani Mahmoud Ali Qeshta from his martyred mother’s womb along with his father on October 23, 2023, following an Israeli occupation aircraft bombardment of their home in Tal Al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah without prior warning. In another strike, Israeli occupation aircraft targeted the home of Hani’s grandfather in Rafah without prior warning, resulting in the martyrdom of Hani, his two sisters, his grandfather, grandmother, aunts, uncles, his uncle’s wife, and his cousins in a horrific massacre that claimed the lives of children and women.

The Father’s Collapse at the Moment of Seeing His Martyred Child

Rescue of Children from Under the Rubble

A Father’s Collapse Upon Seeing His Martyred Daughter

“What did this child do?”

Martyr Children with Crushed Skulls and Shattered Bodies!

Four martyr children, all under one and a half years old, were brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after being subjected to the brutal bombing by Israeli occupation aircraft on Al-Nuseirat area in the central governorate.