Key Takeaways:
- News outlets have continued their silence almost a month after Palestinian Islamic Jihad admitted to having used child soldiers in the October 7 War.
- With a news ecosystem in which the issue is not explored, PIJ may be revealing younger child terrorists because they feel there is no recourse.
- Since the phenomenon started to emerge in July, DFLP also issued martyr notices for child soldiers.
The deceased child soldiers being announced by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are getting younger, as the media has maintained silence about the phenomenon. Organizations such as United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have recently decried deaths of children in Gaza. But amid the silence about the possible contributing factor to that tragedy, a second Palestinian terrorist organization has confirmed its use of child soldiers.
Three 15-year-old child soldiers were announced dead in August by PIJ, joining at least 20 deceased child soldiers confirmed by Palestinian terrorist organizations since July. The 15-year-olds were the youngest terrorists confirmed thus far by their organizations to have participated in the October 7 War.
Malik Ahmed Al-Afandi was 15 years old and part of PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigade. He was in the Al-Radwan Battalion of the Gaza Brigade. 15-year-old Mahmoud Moussa Nassir was in the Northern Brigade’s Rocket Unit. 15-year-old Qusay Kamel Washah was in the Northern Brigade’s Central Mobilization unit. Washah’s “mujahid” and “martyr” statuses were announced by PIJ on August 9, while the former two were announced on August 11.
Child Soldier Problem Continues to Unfold
PIJ had begun to release the names of slain child soldiers in July, as previously reported by HonestReporting, and continued to publish martyr notices of older boys since.
On August 9, the terrorist organization claimed 16-year-old Jumaa Khalil Ghubn as a member of the Al-Quds Brigade’s Northern Brigade Central Mobilization Unit. On July 23, 16-year-old Abdul Hadi Abdullah Al-Najjar was announced as a deceased member of the Khan Yunis Brigade’s Al-Balad Battalion. Seventeen-year-old Ashraf Abdul Karim Khattab was announced dead on August 6.
In addition to another nine child soldiers detailed by HonestReporting at the end of July, another 11 have since been confirmed by matching their faces, names, and other identifying details in martyr notices, social media posts, and casualty databases. There are others who are suspected child soldiers, but there was not enough supporting evidence to confirm their identities.
DFLP Reveals Child Soldier Use
The PIJ is not the only terrorist organization to have admitted to the use of child soldiers since July. On July 30, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) published a martyr video for Ahmed Salem Sukkar showing him armed and uniformed. The title screen for the video detailed that Sukkar was born in 2006 and died in 2023, meaning that at most he would have been 17. Indeed, online Palestinian casualty databases listed a 17-year-old boy of the same age that died in October 2023.
The DFLP also listed 17-year-old Nabil Ismail Jarbu’ as one of the fighters in its Martyr Omar al-Qasim Forces. According to Facebook posts by deceased DFLP field commander Ismail Nabi Jarbu’ and his wife, the younger Jarbu’ appeared to be his son. On August 6, the 17-year-old was claimed by PIJ as a member of its Central Brigade’s Nuseirat Battalion. It is unclear if Jarbu’ had membership with both terrorist organizations, or was only commemorated by the DFLP due to his father’s rank in the terrorist organization.
The case is notable not only due to Jarbu’s possible dual allegiance, but also because it is representative of a wider trend with child terrorists. Israel Policy Forum senior Policy Associate Gabriel Epstein, who has also been tracking the growing evidence of the practice of Gazan groups recruiting children, noted on Monday on X a pattern in which the child soldiers were part of families with members in terrorist organizations. He noted that in some cases the child combatants were killed in the same strike as their terrorist family members, while others had familial ties to those dying elsewhere in the October 7 War or another war.
Muhammad Zuhair Al-Amsi was announced on August 5 by PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigades to be a member of its Rafah Brigade’s Al-Shaboura Battalion. According to Epstein, Al-Amsi was 16 years old at the time of his death. He was also reportedly the son of Rafah Brigade Central Intelligence Unit platoon commander Zuheir Rajab Mohammed al-Amsi.
Seventeen-year-old Abdullah Imad Al-Ajez was in the Rafah Brigade’s Military Manufacturing Unit, according to August 5 statements by PIJ. Epstein linked Al-Ajez to his father, Imad Hassan Mohammed al-Ajiz, commander of PIJ’s military manufacturing. Al-Ajez had a brother and cousin in the same unit as him, both of whom also had martyr notices issued for them.
On July 17, PIJ claimed 16-year-old Fawzi Kamel Fawzi Washah as a member of the Northern Brigade’s Martyr Hussam Abu Habl Battalion. According to Epstein, he was the son of high-ranking PIJ Central Information Unit commander Kamel Fawzi Washah. The analyst also suspected militancy from Washa’s other children.
Still No News Coverage of Child Soldiers
It has been almost a month since PIJ began to announce its use of child soldiers through martyr posters, yet news outlets have not expressed any curiosity about the matter. Gaza is a lightning rod for news coverage, with outlets covering a wide variety of related stories. Yet while several major outlets including Reuters, The Washington Post, and CNN have all published human interest stories about struggling Gazan beekeepers, the deadly phenomenon of child soldiers has not garnered comparable coverage. The death of children in Gaza has been of significant interest to journalists, with 56 articles written by 32 outlets just about the June 18 Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (COI) report alleging that the Israeli military deliberately targeted Palestinian children.
On August 6, UNICEF issued a statement declaring that 300 Gazan children had been killed in just as many days since the October 2025 ceasefire. UNICEF didn’t blame Israeli operations for the deaths directly, but addressed an unsafe environment in which violence was unfolding.
“Families are now crowded into roughly a third of the Gaza Strip, sheltering in unsafe conditions among destroyed buildings, rubble and accumulated solid waste. Across the Strip, children continue to face acute malnutrition, disease, unsafe water and damaged sanitation systems,” said UNICEF. “UNICEF calls on all parties to comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law. They must protect children, safeguard their access to essential goods and services, including healthcare, education, safe water and food, and allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to children in need.”
Yet amid the series of factors that potentially were contributing to the death of children, the problem of children being sent into combat was not raised. Ten news articles were written about the short statement, but nothing has been done to address the emerging pattern about child soldiers.
An indication that the practice is known among Gazan media workers is a 2018 Facebook post by Drop Site News guest writer Ismail Nawfal. Middle East analyst Eitan Fischberger discovered that Nawfal had posted a fawning video of a Gaza kindergarten graduation ceremony in which the children acted out combat with mock firearms.
“A people who embrace their weapon from a young age will never be defeated,” Nawfal wrote.
The comfort level of Gazan news writers and the terrorist organizations to embrace the militarization suggests that the practice is not obscure.
Amid the lack of interest by the media, not only have younger child soldiers been confirmed, but a second terrorist organization has acknowledged its participation in the recruitment of children. The developments could reflect a sense of impunity about the practice — a sense that may be bolstered by a silent media.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
