Two girls drawn in Gaza

The BBC World Service has reconstructed the stories of Layan al-Majdalawi, Two, and Mira Tanboura, six, both killed in Gaza in separate incidents in November 2023, in areas where the defense forces Israel (IDF) worked.

In response to our results, the FDIs said that the details of the cases of Layan and Mira had been recorded and “will be examined by the competent authorities”. He added: “The intentional damages for civilians, especially children, are strictly prohibited.”

Layan and Mira are only two of the more than 160 cases of children slaughtered in the war in Gaza, for whom we have gathered accounts.

We found that in 95 of these cases, the child had been shot in the head or chest. In 59 of them, we obtained testimonies from eyewitnesses, directly or via human rights organizations and doctors. The witnesses allegedly alleged that 57 of these children had been killed by the FDIs, and two were killed by the Palestinians – one for the celebration shots and the other in a gang conflict.

For the other 36 cases out of 95, we have no account of what happened. Israel prohibits foreign journalists from entering independently of Gaza, and destruction and travel make details of gathering difficult.

The International Committee of the Red Cross told the BBC that the world could not accept as a “new normal” the type of war which allows so many children to be slaughtered.