Kidnappings, killing children: How Hamas is committing heinous war crimes

Hamas has reportedly released footage of its armed militants attending to infants and children. The 49-second clip was also shared by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on X to underscore how the Palestinian militant group is holding children hostage, saying these are the “terrorists that we are going to defeat.”Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel last Saturday (7 October), killing over 1,300 people and wounding 3200 others. The militant group has also taken back at least 150 captives, including non-Israelis, to Gaza. The retaliatory airstrikes by the Israeli military in Gaza have claimed the lives of 1,900 people and left 7,696 others injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry.Amid IDF’s expected ground invasion of the narrow enclave, let’s look at how Hamas has committed gravest violations against children in times of conflict.Hamas’ video of childrenIn the footage, a Hamas gunman can be seen pacifying a crying child. An infant is seen in a pram, surrounded by several gunmen in what appears to be a garden of a family home. A child can be seen sitting on the lap of another Hamas militant.One of the men, wearing a balaclava and a green headband, is seen holding one child on each arm as he talks into the camera.A militant tells a child to say "Bismillah" while offering a cup of what seems to be is water.It is not known when or even where the footage was captured. The fate of these children and their parents also remains unknown, as per The Telegraph.The IDF has shared the footage apparently to bolster international support for its feared “military operations” in Gaza. Earlier, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office posted distressing photographs on X of charred remains of infants. One picture appeared to show the body of a blood-stained baby, lying inside a small body bag.The PMO said these were “horrifying photos of babies murdered and burned by the Hamas monsters”.ALSO READ: This Week in Explainers: Why India is watching the Israel-Hamas war closelyHamas' atrocities on childrenIt is believed Hamas killed or kidnapped dozens of children during its attack on Israel last week. Besides unprecedented rocket strikes, the militant group’s armed fighters had also infiltrated southern Israel near the Gaza border.The kibbutz of Kfar Aza, which is just 3 km from the Gaza Strip, was among the worst-hit communities. A kibbutz, meaning communal settlements in Hebrew, is a small farming community in Israel.Describing the carnage at Kfar Aza, Israeli Major General Itai Veruv said on Tuesday, "Mothers, fathers, babies, young families killed in their beds, in the protection room, in the dining room, in their garden”."It's not a war, it's not a battlefield. It's a massacre," Veruv said adding that some victims were “decapitated”, reported Reuters. "I've never seen anything like this, and I've served for 40 years."According to Reuters, the Hamas’ assault on Kfar Aza kibbutz was laid bare through its torched houses and vehicles, broken furniture and streets strewn with the bodies of Israeli civilians and Hamas fighters.[caption id="attachment_13248272" align="alignnone" width="640"]

An Israeli soldier stands over the body of a Hamas militant in Kibbutz Be'eri on 11 October 2023. AP File Photo[/caption]Speaking to ABC News, an Israeli woman said her two children, aged 12 and 16, who were at their father’s home on a kibbutz near the Gaza border were abducted by Hamas militants during their last weekend’s rampage."They were taken from their homes, from their beds, by barbarians. I can't really find another word for it,” the mother said."I want the world to demand the release of those innocent civilians. I want these children and women and babies back home, and I want my children back home," the woman told ABC News. In one of the largest kibbutz in Israel, Be'eri, the IDF said women, children and the elderly were "brutally butchered" as over 100 people were killed there.Security camera video captured gunmen entering the Be'eri kibbutz and shooting defenseless residents, reported CBS News. Hamas commits grave violationIt is believed Hamas' hostages also include children, who could also be used as human shields in case of an Israeli ground invasion.On Monday (9 October), UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell condemned Hamas' assault and said, "Nothing justifies the killing, maiming or abducting of children -- grave rights violations which UNICEF wholeheartedly condemns. Yet less than 72 hours after the outbreak of horrific violence in Israel, reports indicate that grave rights violations against children are rampant"."Many children have been killed or injured, while countless others have been exposed to the violence."The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) considers abduction of children during conflict as one of the six grave violations. Other crimes include: Killing and maiming of children; recruitment or use of children in armed forces and armed groups; attacks on schools or hospitals; rape or other grave sexual violence; and refusal to provide humanitarian access for children.According to the UN website on abduction, “In times of war, children are too often abducted by parties to conflict and subjected to brutal treatment. In many cases, the abduction of children is the precursor to other grave violations. Children can be abducted to be killed or maimed, to become victims of sexual violence or to be recruited to the ranks of an army or armed groups. In some instances, abducted children are detained arbitrarily by Governments or armed groups. Parties to conflict also abduct children in systematic campaigns of violence and reprisal against civilian populations.”Armed forces and groups are bound by international humanitarian law to protect civilians, including children, who are more vulnerable during wartimes.With inputs from agencies