The BBC World Service has compiled the accounts of Layan al-Majdalawi, aged two, and Mira Tanboura, aged six, who were killed in separate incidents in Gaza in November 2023, in regions where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were active.
In response to the findings, the IDF stated that the details of Layan and Mira’s cases are documented and “will be reviewed by the relevant authorities.” It further asserted, “The intentional harming of civilians, especially children, is strictly forbidden.”
Layan and Mira represent only a fraction of the over 160 instances of children shot during the Gaza conflict, for whom we have managed to gather accounts.
We discovered that in 95 of these cases, the children were shot in the head or chest. In 59 of these incidents, we received testimony from either direct eyewitnesses or via human rights organizations and medical staff. The witnesses reported that 57 of these children were allegedly shot by the IDF, with two instances of Palestinians involved – one case was attributed to celebratory gunfire, and the other to a gang conflict.
For the remaining 36 out of these 95 cases, no information on what transpired is available. Israel’s prohibition on foreign reporters’ independent entry into Gaza, along with the widespread destruction and displacement, complicates the process of gathering specific details.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has communicated to the BBC that the kind of warfare resulting in the shooting of so many children cannot be accepted as a “new normal.”
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cjelp738zd7o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
