By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2025-03-12 15:50:08 | Updated at 2025-03-12 21:06:24
5 hours ago
Hamas sent a 4-year-old boy to approach an Israeli military outpost in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday — after soldiers there repeatedly opened fire on Gazans who approached the soldiers, officials say.
The Israel Defense Forces spotted the child walking towards them at a security buffer zone overnight.
The soldiers took the boy in and worked with international groups to return him to his family.
“In a conversation with the soldiers, the child said that he was sent to the post by the Hamas terrorist organization,” the IDF said in a statement.
The IDF accused Hamas of sending a 4-year-old boy to a security post overnight. IDF/X“Hamas does not hesitate to use any means to cynically use and exploit civilians and children to advance its terrorism,” the military added.
The IDF did not elaborate on what Hamas’ goal would be in deploying a child to the post, but the Israeli military has previously fired at individuals who have approached the buffer zone during the uneasy cease-fire with the terror group.
Just hours before the incident, the IDF claimed a Hamas operative was caught surveilling Israeli troops at a post in southern Gaza, which “posed a threat” to the soldiers.
The Israeli military subsequently carried out an airstrike against the operative, with the blast killing four people, including civilians, according to the Hamas-run ministry of health.
The soldiers brought the child back to Gaza with the help of international groups. IDF/XThe repeated incidents come as US special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to meet with negotiators in Qatar on Wednesday to push forward the next step of the cease-fire agreement to free the remaining 59 hostages in Gaza.
Israel is currently backing a proposal that would see the current phase of the cease-fire extended by 60 days, which would also call for Hamas to release 10 living hostages, including Israeli-American Edan Alexander.
The Jewish state remains wary of agreeing to move on to the second phase of the cease-fire, which would see the IDF fully withdraw from Gaza in exchange for all 24 living hostages.
