Mohammad and Suleiman Al Zawaraa, two cousins of just 14 and 13 years old, lost their lives after being hit by Israeli fire while collecting firewood in Gaza, according to their relatives and confirmed by medical authorities.
The incident occurred when the youths were trying to get wood for their homes. Mohammad, the elder of the cousins, and Suleiman, a year younger, were transferred to Al Shifa hospital, according to local health authorities.
The children died on Saturday morning. A video showed the heartbroken father of one of the children holding their body in his arms.
The two young men and their families live in northern Gaza. Their uncle, Salman Al Zawaraa, told CNN that the children were close.
“They were full of life and joy, they wanted to help their parents, so they went out to collect firewood for cooking and to warm the family in this harsh winter,” Al Zawaraa told CNN on Sunday.
Israeli forces confirmed to CNN on Sunday that “soldiers operating in northern Gaza identified several terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line, placed an explosive device in the area and approached the soldiers, posing an immediate threat to them.”
They indicated that the incident was the same one in which the minors died. But a military source stated that “they were not children”, without offering evidence.
The youths’ uncle insisted that they were far from the Yellow Line, “almost at the entrance to Kamal Adwan Hospital. What the occupying forces say is a lie; those are innocent children who were murdered in cold blood.”
In parts of Gaza, the yellow line is not clearly delimited or marked.
It’s not the first time Israel has killed minors in Gaza while they were out gathering firewood.
Fadi and Jumaa Abu Assi, aged eight and ten, went out to look for firewood for their disabled father in November. They died in a drone strike.
Israeli forces acknowledged carrying out that attack in a statement, calling the children “two suspects who crossed the yellow line, engaged in suspicious activities on the ground, and approached IDF troops operating in southern Gaza, posing an immediate threat to them”.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Sunday that in the last 24 hours, three people had died due to Israeli military action, bringing the total since the ceasefire came into effect in October to 484.
He indicated that the total number of deaths in Gaza since October 2023 was 71,657. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its data.
Assassinated Journalists
On Wednesday, January 21, at least 11 Palestinians were killed in a series of attacks, according to the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).
He said there was “a broader pattern of post-ceasefire violence and the enduring effects of two years of devastation.”
Among the deceased were three Palestinian journalists near the Netzarim area in central Gaza, who were on assignment for the Egyptian Aid Committee (ERC).
The OPT said the deaths of the three men brought to 292 the number of journalists killed by Israeli attacks since October 2023.
“All vehicles of the Egyptian Committee have the logo of the Egyptian Committee, despite that the vehicle was attacked by Israeli aircraft,” committee spokesman Mohamed Mansour told CNN. He said that journalists recorded the site “as usual on a daily basis.”
The Egyptian Aid Committee is a state humanitarian organization operating in Gaza with Israeli authorization “to support the Palestinian people amid successive crises,” according to the group’s website.
In that case, the IDF said that soldiers identified “several suspects” operating a drone that they claimed was affiliated with Hamas in central Gaza “in a way that posed a threat to their security.” The IDF said that they then carried out an attack “in accordance with the required chain of command.”
The incident was “under review,” according to the IDF.
The military did not provide any evidence linking the drone to Hamas nor explained how it posed a threat to Israeli soldiers. On Tuesday – a day before the attack – the Egyptian Aid Committee published several videos on social media clearly recorded with a drone showing the tent camp near where the journalists were killed.
OPT said that three incidents that same day occurred near the Yellow Line, and two minors under 13 years old were among the deceased.
“Repeated Israeli military operations in areas west of the redeployment line have also caused the displacement of civilians and the demolition of residential buildings in those areas,” said OPT.
OPT noted that it had also recorded at least 80 Palestinian deaths by Hamas since the ceasefire, mostly in clashes with rival families and in summary executions.
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“People die every day, both in Israeli attacks and as a result of continued Israeli restrictions on the entry of humanitarian assistance, particularly shelter, leading to deaths from cold and under collapsed buildings,” said Ajith Sunghay, UN Human Rights Chief in the OPT.
The Israeli agency in charge of allowing aid into Gaza has rejected the UN’s claims that nearly 80% of the population faces hunger, calling them “an attempt to recycle false and misleading claims for political and economic reasons.”
The agency – the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) – said that every day between 600 and 800 trucks, mainly with food, enter Gaza.
