The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Wednesday that Hamas sent a 4-year-old Palestinian boy to one of its outposts. The IDF says it returned the toddler to Gaza in coordination with international organizations.

“Hamas does not hesitate to use any means to cynically use and exploit civilians and children to advance its terrorism,” the IDF wrote on X.

The child allegedly told IDF soldiers that Hamas sent him, but Israel did not provide information on how the boy knew the terrorist organization sent him there. 

The IDF says Hamas sent a 4-year-old boy toward a military outpost. (IDF)

During the Oct. 7 massacre, Hamas not only killed Israeli children, but took several as hostages. In November 2023, as part of a deal, Hamas released 30 children from captivity. The last two child hostages in Gaza were Ariel and Kfir Bibas. Their fate remained uncertain for months, until their deaths were confirmed in February 2025 when their bodies were returned to Israel.

“Kfir and Ariel were murdered in cold blood. The terrorists didn’t shoot them—they killed them with their bare hands. Then, they committed horrific acts to cover up their crimes,” IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said following the return of the Bibas children’s remains.

IDF forces are seen operating in Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip. (IDF Spokesman’s Office)

Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon called on U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to issue a condemnation of the incident involving the 4-year-old Palestinian child.

“Hamas has a genocidal animosity toward Israelis and equally doesn’t care for the people of Gaza. That’s why the terrorist organization uses babies, children and women as human shields and pawns in conflict. This is contemptible and should be roundly condemned by the United Nations secretary-general,” Ambassador Danon said.

Just last week, the U.N. was slammed over a draft of its report on children in combat zones that appeared to omit stories of Israeli victims. 

Throughout the section of the report on Israeli and Palestinian children, there are instances of the U.N. conflicting verified and unverified data. Though the report admits that there is unverified data, it does not give any information on who was responsible for verifying the other figures. This lack of transparency left room to doubt the report’s accuracy.