Key Takeaways:
- Palestinian Islamic Jihad announced the deaths of 13-year-old and 14-year-old child soldiers during the October 7 War. Previously, the youngest operatives confirmed by the group were 15 years old.
- Hamas published a martyr video for a child soldier hinting at the systemic training of child soldiers.
- The IDF published footage of a Gazan child allegedly being used to transfer weaponry.
The youngest confirmed Gazan child soldiers killed during the October 7 War were announced by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) on Friday, several days after Hamas’ own child soldier announcements indicated systemic training of minor combatants.
PIJ announced on Friday the death of 13-year-old and 14-year-old operatives, breaking the previous self-confirmed age records of 15-year-old child soldiers. With the confirmation of their roles, the number of child soldiers corroborated by HonestReporting research has risen to 31.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Youngest Operatives
Hossam Muhammad Morsi was claimed by PIJ’s Al-Quds Brigades to be an operative of its Northern Brigade’s Central Mobilization Unit. The martyr poster matched the name of a 13-year-old who had been killed in a September 2024 incident. Only one name matched Morsi’s in Hamas Health Ministry data, and facial-matching platforms confirmed the PIJ and civilian information pertained to the same individual.
According to PIJ, Morsi was an operative of its Northern Brigade’s Central Mobilization Unit. Like many Gazan child soldiers, he has older family members who were also in the terrorist organization. Morsi was killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike alongside his 18-year-old brother Munir Muhammad Morsi, who was also in the Al-Quds Brigades Northern Brigade, but in the Martyr Husam Abu Habl Battalion. The older brother’s Facebook page is replete with photographs of armed men with PIJ logos emblazoned on their uniforms. One picture that he published in 2022 depicted a young child in a military uniform and a Kalashnikov rifle.
Another relative, pictured alongside the brothers in hagiographic martyr images, was Abdullah Muhammad Awda Morsi. He was killed in an October 2024 incident and was in the same brigade and battalion as his 13-year-old relative.
Two other child soldiers were announced by PIJ on Friday. Fourteen-year-old Khalil Mahdi Al-Bahtiti was announced as an Al-Quds Brigade operative in the Gaza Brigade’s Al-Tuffah and Al-Daraj Battalion.
Malik Raafat Marzouq appears to have died at age 16. His name is unique in casualty databases, and while most photos on social media are of poor quality or from when he was younger, they do pass muster on facial matching platforms. According to PIJ, Marzouq was a member of the Al-Quds Brigades in the Gaza Brigade’s Al-Tuffah and Al-Daraj Battalion.
Hamas’ Hints at Training Children
Hamas also recently published announcements about a child soldier slain during the October 7 War, which also provided a glimpse into how the practice is systemic to Gazan military forces.
On September 29, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades published on associated channels a martyr poster and video for 17-year-old Fadi Hamdan Abu Gharara, who was an operative of the Rafah Brigade’s Martyr Raed Al-Attar Battalion. Palestinian social media post obituaries described him as one of the terrorists that had held captive the body of IDF soldier Hadar Goldin, who had been killed in a 2014 ambush. On Abu Gharara’s Facebook page, he was eulogized as having “attained the honor and glory of jihad.”
The video of Abu Gharara also indicated the deployment of another child soldier. The minor was seen riding in a truck alongside a teenager who was captioned as Ahmed Abu Salima. The name and appearance of Abu Salima matched that of a 17-year-old who had died on October 7, 2023. Relatives described him on social media as a “heroic martyr” who had died during the “battle of Al-Aqsa.“
“He shed his blood on the land of historic Palestine,” an uncle of Abu Salima wrote on Facebook, indicating that the teenage terrorist had entered Israel to participate in the October 7 massacre.
In addition to the footage of Abu Salima, Abu Gharara was seen alongside masked individuals engaged in some form of military training or selection process. The masked individuals appeared slight of frame and youthful in stance, indicating that they were of a similar age to Abu Salima. The footage therefore raises concerns about the organized training of minors for combat, rather than children being enlisted as irregulars.
Gazan Children Used to Transfer Weaponry
Another piece of information about the use of child soldiers in Gaza was a video published by the IDF last Sunday. The footage allegedly depicted a Gazan terrorist using a child to transfer weapons to a civilian home.
According to the IDF, the terrorist was “using him as a human shield to transfer the weapons, in an attempt to prevent the IDF from striking & thwarting their transfer.”
The video ostensibly demonstrates one way that children are used in combat in Gaza, as human shield auxiliaries that can transfer equipment to positions.
The body of evidence of child soldier deployment by Palestinian factions has grown since PIJ, Hamas, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) began to publish martyr notices about them in July; however, the phenomenon has received little coverage from international media.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
