Israel Continues to Shoot Children in the Head During the Gaza Ceasefire

Two Palestinian parents recount the killing of their children by the Israeli military. One was 3, the other 9.

By Ohood Nassar, Reposted from Truthout, July 09, 2026

Bahaa Abu Al-Ajeen, 32, set out with his 3-year-old son Rayan to check on their family home east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza at approximately 5:00 pm on June 14. According to Bahaa, the area appeared safe and deserted. He said there were no visible soldiers, no gunfire, and no drones overhead.

“The area was safe. If I had felt any danger, I would never have gone there,” he said.

After inspecting the house and leaving the area, Bahaa said he was shocked to see Israeli soldiers emerging from a nearby building.

“My son was in my arms and crying intensely from fear,” he recalled. “It was the first time I had ever seen him so frightened.”

According to his account, he decided to move away from the soldiers in an attempt to calm Rayan and walked approximately 500 meters from the area. Bahaa said that after he had distanced himself, the soldiers began shouting at him to stop. He stated that two shots were fired in his direction but did not hit either him or his son, prompting him to stop out of fear for their lives.

“After I stopped, one of the soldiers knelt down and fired directly at my son,” Bahaa said. “The bullet entered the back of Rayan’s head and exited through his left eye. Moments later, another bullet struck my left leg. When I saw them kill my son, I screamed and asked them, ‘He is a child. Why did you kill him?’”

Bahaa said he attempted to call an ambulance using his mobile phone, but the soldiers confiscated it and prevented him from seeking medical assistance. According to Bahaa’s testimony, Rayan bled for approximately seven minutes before dying from his injuries. He said he pleaded with the soldiers to save his son, but they refused.

Hours of Pain

Bahaa stated that after he was wounded and his son was killed, soldiers dragged him while he was still holding Rayan and took him to what he described as a military-controlled area near the Kissufim crossing. Upon arrival, he said, the soldiers took Rayan away from him and left him bleeding on the ground.

By that point, Bahaa said his left leg had been nearly severed. He recalled hearing soldiers discussing whether his leg should be amputated.

“I heard one of them speaking Arabic and saying that my leg was beyond saving and should be amputated,” he said.

The discussion left him terrified. Later, according to Bahaa, soldiers loaded him into an Israeli military vehicle. During the journey, he asked about his son.

“They told me that Rayan was dead,” he said.

Bahaa stated that soldiers then placed Rayan’s body in a black plastic bag and handed it to him.

“At that moment, I wished they had killed me and let my son live,” he said.

Holding his son’s body, Bahaa repeatedly asked the soldiers why they had killed a 3-year-old child. According to his account, he was initially told he would be transferred to an Israeli prison before soldiers later informed him that he would instead be returned to Gaza. Bahaa said he was eventually left in an isolated area at around 11:30 pm, still wounded and carrying his son’s body. After waiting for nearly 90 minutes, Palestinians found the grieving father and transported him to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

“When I saw Palestinians coming to rescue me and take my son, I lost consciousness,” he said. “The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital.”

Killed While Learning

On April 9, 2026, 9-year-old Ritaj Rihan was killed while attending an educational tent in the Al-Salatin area of Beit Lahia, according to her family. Ritaj’s mother said her daughter had been excited to return to learning for the first time since October 7, 2023.

According to her mother, witnesses, teachers, and students present inside the tent, Ritaj was standing at the front of the classroom waiting for her notebook to be reviewed when she was shot. Witnesses said the bullet pierced the tent before striking the child.

“She was standing among her classmates, waiting for her teacher,” her mother said. “Then suddenly she collapsed.”

According to those present, blood began pouring from Ritaj’s mouth as shocked classmates and teachers watched. The bullet entered through her mouth and caused fatal internal injuries, according to her family’s account. Staff members at the educational tent attempted to save her, but due to the severe shortage of transportation in northern Gaza, they were forced to use a donkey cart to carry her to medical care. Despite the staff’s efforts, Ritaj died from her injuries.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory released a report in June showing that nearly 30 percent of those killed in Gaza between October 7, 2023, and the so-called ceasefire in October 2025 were children. A report published days later by Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem found that Israel is killing Palestinian children in the West Bank at the highest rate since 1967.

“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” Srinivasan Muralidhar, chair of the UN commission, said. “Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and for the protection owed to Palestinian children under international law.”

The stories of Rayan and Ritaj unfolded in different parts of Gaza and under different circumstances. Yet both children were engaged in ordinary activities — one accompanying his father, the other attending class — when their lives came to an end.

Their families continue to remember them as children whose futures were cut short amid a genocide that continues to exact a heavy toll on Gaza’s youngest residents.