Family says boys, aged 8 and 10, gathering firewood were killed by Israeli drone in southern Gaza

Two Palestinian boys were killed in southern Gaza on Saturday in what their family says was an Israeli drone strike, as the Israeli military claimed it had identified two suspects “posing an immediate threat".

The Israeli army said troops observed two individuals who “conducted suspicious activities” and had crossed the Yellow Line, a boundary marked by yellow concrete blocks behind which Israeli forces have been deployed under the fragile, US-brokered ceasefire in place since October 10. It stated that the suspects approached its forces and were then “eliminated” by an air force drone.

Family says boys were gathering firewood

Relatives told AFP the victims were brothers, aged eight and ten, named Fadi and Jumaa Tamer Abu Assi. According to Mahmud Bassal of Gaza’s civil defence agency, the strike occurred at around 8:30 am (0630 GMT) in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Yunis. Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis confirmed receiving the children’s bodies and said their funerals were held later in the day.

More than 60 mourners attended, with one man seen kneeling beside a white body bag. The boys’ father, who uses a wheelchair, clung to the bags as they were carried for burial.

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Several uncles of the boys said the children had gone out to collect firewood for their disabled father. Alaa Abu Assi said they were “innocent children who have no rockets and no bombs”. He added that their father had sent them because “he has absolutely nothing… and if my brother were able, he would have gone himself, but he cannot”.

Another uncle, Baha Abu Assi, said residents did not recognise any clear markings indicating the Yellow Line. “These kids don’t even know where they’re going,” he said, explaining that they had simply been searching for firewood due to shortages of gas and food.

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The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported that 354 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect. Several deadly incidents have occurred around the Yellow Line, an area that has remained sensitive despite the withdrawal of Israeli forces behind the marked boundary.