An unusual incident near the IDF’s so-called “yellow line” buffer zone in the Gaza Strip over the weekend has sparked controversy, after Israeli troops fired warning shots at a man they said was approaching suspiciously and later discovered he was carrying a toddler.
The military and Arab media outlets offered sharply different accounts of the episode, with the military saying the man posed an immediate threat and later identified himself as a Hamas operative, while relatives quoted by Al Jazeera said his mental state was deteriorating after losing his livelihood and had simply lost his way.
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Gaza toddler whom relatives say was detained near the IDF’s yellow-line buffer zone, where the military said his father, a suspected Hamas operative, approached troops carrying the child
According to the military, troops spotted a suspicious individual who continued advancing toward them despite calls to stop. The army said the man posed an “immediate threat” to the forces, prompting warning fire meant to drive him back rather than strike him directly.
The military said that during questioning, the man — identified as the child’s father — told investigators he was a Hamas operative and admitted he had brought his son with him to serve as a human shield against the soldiers.
The army said both the father and the child suffered light injuries from shrapnel. It said the toddler was transferred for medical supervision, given treatment and food, and later handed back to the Red Cross in Gaza in good condition.
But in a detailed report on the incident published by the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network, relatives said the father had lost his source of income and left home with his toddler to go to a nearby store in central Gaza, only to stray off course and head east toward the yellow line, a term used by the IDF for the restricted area near its forces.
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The toddler’s reported condition, as described by Al Jazeera, after his family alleged he was separated from his father for hours
According to that account, the father was warned and continued moving forward after shots were fired, but he and his son were then detained and separated for several hours.
The main point of dispute concerns the toddler’s condition. The military said the child was documented being safely transferred to Red Cross representatives and appeared conscious and stable in the footage.
Relatives, however, said the toddler suffered severe injuries to his legs, including burns and deep wounds that they said did not match injuries caused by shrapnel from warning fire. Doctors at a Gaza hospital were also quoted in the Al Jazeera report.
The family raised suspicions that the child may have been abused by soldiers, but the military rejected the allegation as “baseless” and part of “propaganda.”
The military said the handover of the toddler to the Red Cross was filmed, but it did not address the specific medical findings described by relatives and doctors in Gaza.