Foreign doctors in Gaza describe a pattern of children killed by single gunshots to the head or chest, saying it shows Israel is deliberately targeting them.
De Volkskrant, a Dutch newspaper, published an investigation on Saturday, speaking with 15 doctors who were among the last international eyewitnesses in the region.
The doctors told the newspaper they treated 114 children aged 15 and under with such wounds, and most did not survive.
Witnesses said Israeli drones and snipers fired the bullets. Former Dutch army commander Mart de Kruif said accidental hits are almost impossible given the scale and consistency of the injuries.
American trauma surgeon Feroze Sidhwa, who arrived at the European Hospital in Gaza in March 2024, recalls four boys with head wounds admitted within 48 hours.
“I thought: what the hell? How is it possible?” he said, and over the next two weeks, he treated 9 more children with similar wounds.
Doctors described working in extreme heat in hospitals filled with the smell of sewage, explosives, and decay, with ventilators and medical equipment scarce or broken.
Emergency surgeon Mimi Syed intubated a four-year-old girl shot in a humanitarian zone using a laryngoscope she had smuggled in, keeping the child alive and later documenting the bullet lodged in her head.
Doctors reported treating wounds likely caused by fragmentation weapons, where small cube-shaped fragments pierce organs and vessels, causing fatal bleeding or major amputations.
Weapons experts say the wounds match Israeli-made tungsten fragments, though the Israeli military denies using such weapons.
Mass casualty events occur daily, with children making up over 40% of Gaza’s population, and many arriving with grave injuries.
Doctors described children with shrapnel in the brain, bullets in the chest, and limbs destroyed by blasts, with some classified as WCNSF (Wounded Child, No Surviving Family).
British surgeon Goher Rahbour noticed another disturbing pattern, as the targeted body part changed each day, with one day being the chest or head, and another, the limbs or abdomen, suggesting a coordinated and deliberate method.
Doctors speak out despite risks, as Israel often blocks reentry for those who testify, and “Being silent is not an option,” said Sidhwa.
Doctors from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands said their duty is to save lives and bear witness to Israeli crimes in Gaza.
Their testimony depicts the deliberate targeting of children, the destruction of hospitals, and the human cost of the ongoing genocide.
Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war on Gaza, it has murdered 64,803 Palestinians and wounded 164,264, most of them children and women.
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