IDF Video From Gaza Shows Child Allegedly Used to Move Weapons Into Civilian Home

(Photo: IDF Spokesperson)

The IDF on Sunday released footage from the Gaza Strip showing a child carrying weapons into a civilian home in the central camps area. According to the IDF Spokesperson’s statement, troops operating in the area identified a terrorist who used the child to transfer the weapons.

The military said the terrorist exploited the child’s presence in an attempt to prevent IDF forces from striking the weapons and stopping their transfer. The IDF said the child was therefore used as a human shield during the operation.

“The terrorist exploited the child and used him as a human shield to transfer the weapons so that the IDF would not strike and stop their transfer,” the IDF Spokesperson said in a statement released alongside the footage.

The IDF said the incident joins other cases in which terrorist organizations in Gaza use children for terrorist purposes. According to the military’s statement, this is part of the “systematic use by terrorist organizations of children for terrorist purposes,” carried out in violation of international law.

The IDF further said that, according to the military, the use of children is intended to help advance and carry out terrorist plans directed against army forces operating in Gaza, including forces deployed in the yellow-line area, as well as against Israeli civilians.

The IDF noted that Southern Command forces remain deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement. The military stressed that the forces will continue operating in the area to remove any immediate threat.