On 15 September, an Israeli airstrike killed a 15-year-old boy in Gaza city.
Eyewitnesses told the Guardian that Mohammad Abdul Zinati had gone to check on the body of a man who had been struck by an Israeli bomb moments earlier. That initial attack on Tuesday injured Palestinian civil defence paramedic Sharif Shadi Labad, who Israeli military said was targeted because he was a Hamas militant.
The Guardian verified footage of the attack and spoke to witnesses and weapons experts in an effort to shed light on the strike.
Bellingcat weapons expert Trevor Ball, who reviewed the video, said the bomb, visible before impact, was a Mikholit, which is deployed by Israeli unmanned vehicles (UAVs) or drones. He added that the drone would likely have had a high-quality camera, and that some variants of the Mikholit can be redirected while in flight.
In a statement to the Guardian, the Israeli military said Sharif Shadi Ibrahim Labad was a Hamas terrorist who belonged to the elite Nukhba forces. The IDF stated that Labad had participated in the 7 October attacks in 2023 at the Erez border crossing and was targeted because he was planning new operations.
Asked why the second attack went ahead when its target was visibly a minor, the military did not respond, but said it “is aware of reports indicating that an uninvolved individual was harmed as a result of the strike targeting the terrorist” and “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and makes every effort to minimise such harm”.
The Israeli military said the incident was under review.
