Hamas’s war on Gaza’s children

For more than a generation, Hamas’s indoctrination of Gaza’s children has sat at the edge of public discussion. As far back as 2001, human rights organisations were already reporting that Hamas had recruited 15-year-olds, with 12 being the youngest recorded age.

Public argument about Gaza speaks constantly about civilians, often at a distance from the people enduring the war. This video records Gazans interviewed in recent weeks describing their own experiences of Hamas.

They speak of discovering that Hamas had lied to them. Their accounts describe children being recruited with money and false promises, under the shadow of armed coercion. In the system they portray, a child’s life is expendable.

Their testimony suggests a strong practical link between disarmament and deradicalisation. So long as Hamas retains armed control, the teachers and preachers who sustain its recruitment system can operate under the organisation’s protection. Any attempt to reform education will remain vulnerable while that machinery retains coercive force.

Disarming Hamas is a civilian necessity, though carrying it out is exceptionally difficult. Gaza’s children remain at risk while an armed organisation can indoctrinate and recruit them in service of its own survival. I have examined the practical obstacles to the Gaza ceasefire in depth, in an extensive three-part series (here).

Ahmad Fouad Alkhatib drew attention on X this week to an appalling video of a child being sent into harm’s way. Gabriel Epstein has collected material identifying apparent child soldiers through wartime images and eulogies released by armed groups or relatives. This phenomenon warrants far closer investigation than they have received from the world’s media.

Before the war, 50 per cent of Gaza’s population was under 18. Male fatalities disproportionately outnumber female fatalities in the 10–14 and 15–19 age groups, whereas the figures for children aged 0–4 and 5–9 show no comparable divergence. Evidence suggests that underage recruitment is a viable and increasingly likely explanation.

Please feel free to download and share this video, either here or on X. The full scale of this child abuse remains undiscussed. This makes the unanswered questions more urgent.