An Israeli officer has revealed that another soldier took a Palestinian infant from Gaza after Israeli airstrikes claimed the lives of her family.
According to Anadolu News agency, Shachar Mendelson, a friend of the soldier, told Israel’s Army Radio on Sunday that Captain Harel Itach took the Palestinian infant to a hospital in Israel.
Itach, from the Givati Brigade, was later killed in battles in the northern Gaza Strip on November 22.
Asked about the infant, Mendelson said: “Itach spoke to a friend during his service in Gaza and told him that while in one of the houses he entered, he heard a baby cry, and decided to take her to Israel.”
Israeli officer admits captain kidnapped Palestinian baby amid Gaza war
A close friend of an Israeli soldier says he found a crying baby in Gaza during Israel’s assault on the city and took her to Israel.
On Israel’s Army Radio, Shahar Mendelson, a close friend of the Israeli… pic.twitter.com/aDamJxUGw4
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) January 1, 2024
When asked whether the infant’s family was likely killed in an Israeli airstrike, and there was no one around her, Mendelson responded: “That is correct.”
The soldier and Army Radio said nothing further about what happened to the infant, according to Anadolu.
It is not clear whether this is an isolated incident or if similar incidents have occurred.
‘Heinous Crime’
Palestinian officials on Tuesday called the episode “a heinous crime”, adding that the baby should be handed back immediately, according to Anadolu.
“The kidnapping of the infant girl from the Gaza Strip is evidence that the (Israeli) occupation army is committing the most heinous crimes against civilians without oversight or accountability,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Israeli officer kidnaps Palestinian baby girl."
Israeli army officer's friend, in an interview on Israeli army radio, discloses shocking details about his friend's actions. The officer kidnapped a Palestinian baby girl after her family members were killed, hearing her cries… pic.twitter.com/9AdpvlWhC2
— Palestine Info Center (@palinfoen) January 1, 2024
It called on Israeli authorities “to immediately hand over the infant to the Palestinian National Authority.”
The ministry added that this could indicate that it was not the first or the last to be committed in Gaza at the hands of Israeli soldiers.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 22,185 Palestinians have been killed, and 57,053 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
(PC, Anadolu)
This should be added to the South African case against Israel in the ICJ. Genocide Convention, Article 2: “(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”