A British doctor who recently returned from Gaza says Israeli soldiers are using Palestinian children as “target practice” near aid distribution sites, as new reports reveal more than 100 children have died from hunger during Israel’s siege of the territory.
Nick Maynard, a consultant surgeon at Oxford University Hospital, told Zeteo and other media that during his time providing care in Gaza, he and other doctors observed a disturbing pattern of injuries among boys aged 11 to 16 who were seeking aid at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution sites.
“There were clusters of particular body parts being injured on particular days,” Maynard said in an interview with Zeteo on Sunday. “One day, they would be coming in predominantly with gunshot wounds to the head or the neck. Most of them died, clearly. The next day, there’d be gunshot wounds to the chest, the next day, the abdomen, the next day, the legs or the arms.”
He described one particular incident: “One day, which was at the end of my third week, on the Saturday evening, four young teenage boys—13, 14—came in, all of whom had been shot in the testicles.”
Maynard said there were many days where so many people with the same injuries came in at once that “it was inconceivable that it could have been coincidence.” He told Zeteo, “It appeared to us like there was a game of target practice being played.” The weapons carried by Israeli forces near the aid sites, he added, would allow soldiers to target children with such precision.
According to Maynard, medical teams would frequently see between six and twelve patients with similar injuries on days that GHF sites were open. His observations are echoed by findings from multiple human rights organizations and eyewitness accounts.
Human Rights Watch said last week that the GHF system has “turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths,” citing witnesses who reported that American contractors at the sites were also opening fire on Palestinians.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) described the system as “orchestrated killing.” In an analysis of patients arriving at a clinic near one aid site, MSF found that 30 percent of injuries were to the head, neck, or upper body—an “anatomical precision” that “strongly suggests intentional targeting of people within the distribution sites.”
Since the end of May, nearly 1,400 Palestinians seeking aid have been killed by Israeli forces, including more than 850 people near GHF sites. Aid access in Gaza has become increasingly lethal, with Israeli forces also targeting people waiting along routes traveled by food convoys. Foreign airdrops have killed Palestinians when supplies fell into crowds.
Palestinian officials report that starvation is compounding the crisis. The Gaza Health Ministry announced Monday that 222 Palestinians have died from hunger during Israel’s siege, including 101 children. The ministry said the vast majority of these deaths have occurred in the past three weeks, as the hunger crisis began to draw greater international attention.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) issued a statement calling for a cease-fire to allow more aid into Gaza. “People are being starved, children are being killed,” the agency said. “Families have lost everything. Political will and leadership can stop an escalation and end the war. Every heartbeat counts.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied there is a starvation crisis in Gaza, claiming such reports are part of a “fake” propaganda campaign waged by Israel’s enemies.
However, international aid organizations continue to warn of a worsening humanitarian disaster. Save the Children reported last week that 43 percent of pregnant and breastfeeding women who came to its Gaza clinics in July were malnourished—triple the rate recorded in March, when the Israeli military imposed a total siege on the territory.
The latest starvation figures come as the Israeli government pushes forward with a plan to fully invade and occupy Gaza. United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca warned over the weekend that “If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction.”
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