New PIJ Child Soldier Announcement Shows How Recruitment is a Family Affair

Key Takeaways:

• At least twenty-three Palestinian child soldiers have been identified since July following the October 7 War.
• Twelve of them have close family members who were operatives in the same terrorist organization — sometimes including other child soldiers.
• The child soldier phenomenon continues to be ignored by international media.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) published martyr posters for two relatives on Friday, including one child soldier, who were also family members of another child soldier who had been announced in August. As the world has ignored the use of children in combat by Palestinian terrorist organizations, the announcements have demonstrated that families are involved in the recruitment of child soldiers.

Muhammad Khair Al-Najjar and Abdul Latif Abdullah Al-Najjar were announced as members of the Al-Quds Brigade’s Khan Yunis Brigade on September 11. Both served in the same battalion, the Al-Balad Battalion. The former, according to cross-referenced Palestinian sources and posts by family on social media, was 17 years old at the time of his death.

According to Palestinian sources, he was killed in the same incident as 16-year-old Abdul Hadi Abdullah Al-Najjar. The youngest of the three was announced on July 23 to have been a member of the Al-Balad Battalion.

Growing Evidence of Family Involvement

The three PIJ operatives are far from the only child soldiers with familial ties to other terrorists. Of the 23 confirmed child soldiers announced by Palestinian groups since July, 12 had close relatives who were also terrorists.

Sixteen-year-old Muhammad Saher Khattab served in the same PIJ brigade as his older brother, Bayan Saher Khattab.

Fawzi Kamel Fawzi Washah, 16, appeared to be the brother of another child soldier, 15-year-old Qusay Washah. They were apparently killed in the same airstrike. Their father was high-ranking PIJ Central Information Unit commander Kamel Fawzi Washah.

Seventeen-year-old Amin Adham Al-Zwaidi was killed alongside two of his brothers, who were also PIJ operatives.

Suleiman Abdul Rahman Abu Nasr also died alongside his brother. Both were PIJ operatives, and Suleiman was 17 years old at the time of his death.

PIJ child soldier Mahmoud Moussa Nassir, only 15 years old, died almost two years after the PIJ operative who appeared to be his father was killed.

Al-Quds Brigade operatives Ali Hafez Abu Khattab and Ashraf Abdul Karim Khattab were in the same vehicle when they were reportedly killed in an airstrike. Ashraf was 17 years old when he was killed.

DFLP Child Soldiers

The PIJ is not the only terrorist organization that has deployed child soldiers. Hamas and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) have also admitted to the practice. The DFLP 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 teenager was claimed by PIJ as a member of its Central Brigade’s Nuseirat Battalion. It is unclear if Jarbu’ had membership in both terrorist organizations, or was only commemorated by the DFLP due to his father’s rank in the terrorist organization.

As the evidence for the deployment of child soldiers in Gaza continues to grow, so too does the evidence that longstanding ties between their families and terrorist organizations may have factored into their recruitment.

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