Human shield: Hamas exploits child for Gaza weapons trafficking

Israeli forces released drone footage showing a child carrying a gun, who was being guided by a Hamas operative.

By World Israel News Staff

A shocking video released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday shows a Hamas operative allegedly using a young child as a human shield while transferring weapons into a house in Gaza amid ongoing Israeli military operations.

The footage, recorded by a drone overhead, shows the operative pushing the child forward and appearing to urge him to walk faster. The boy struggles to remain upright while carrying the weight of a gun that can be clearly seen in his hands.

The IDF said the operative deliberately leveraged the child to prevent Israeli forces from targeting him as he moved the weapons.

❗️ CHILDREN IN GAZA EXPLOITED: Footage shows a terrorist using a child to transfer weapons into a civilian home in central Gaza, using him as a human shield to transfer the weapons, in an attempt to prevent the IDF from striking & thwarting their transfer.

Upon identifying the presence of a child, the IDF refrained from carrying out any strikes against the terrorist.

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 27, 2026

“The terrorist exploited the child, using him as a human shield to transfer the weapons, in an attempt to prevent the IDF from striking and thwarting their transfer,” the IDF said in a media statement published alongside the clip on Sunday.

“Upon identifying the presence of a child, the IDF refrained from carrying out any strikes against the terrorist,” the IDF added.

The military said the incident was another example of the “systematic exploitation of children by terrorist organizations for terrorist purposes, in violation of international law.”

On a page published on its website, the military described the widespread use of civilian infrastructure to facilitate Hamas’s activities.

“Over the last two years, IDF operations have revealed how deeply Hamas entrenched its terrorism across Gaza, showing that no civilian infrastructure was off limits. Rocket launchers, weapons storage, and operational headquarters were found within schools, mosques, children’s bedrooms, and hospitals,” the IDF noted.

“There was a clear strategy to place civilians as close to danger as possible in an attempt to hide terror operations and create serious complications for IDF missions.”

Within every city in the Strip, “local civilian infrastructure was corrupted by Hamas operatives, both above and below ground.”

The IDF added that throughout the war, it has repeatedly uncovered “even more shocking examples of Hamas’ blatant abuse of its civilians to facilitate its terror goals.”