GAZA — Israeli forces have left behind booby-trapped dolls and toys in Gaza, designed to lure children and harm returning civilians, according to a health official.
Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director General of Health Affairs in Gaza, said on Sunday that Israeli forces have left booby-trapped dolls and toys in several areas across the Gaza Strip, “luring Palestinian children in a new face of the ongoing genocide, even after the ceasefire.”
He added that the forces not only left behind destroyed homes, but also time bombs disguised as objects appealing to children.
He explained that unexploded remnants of rockets and shells are also still scattered among the rubble.
“Hospitals receive children every day with horrific injuries, torn bodies, amputated limbs, and faces that have lost their features, the result of children’s innocent curiosity toward those explosive toys,” he said.
Al-Bursh noted that the occupation has used “satanic” methods, hiding explosives inside dolls, teddy bears, and small birds that lure children to approach them before detonating.
He added, “The war in Gaza no longer kills with bullets alone, but with innocence itself, when play turns into death, laughter into screams, and the world’s silence makes it a partner in the crime.”
“Time Bombs”
Israeli restrictions on the entry of heavy machinery are crippling Gaza City’s efforts to clear debris and rebuild critical infrastructure, the city’s mayor said in October following the ceasefire, as tens of thousands of tonnes of unexploded Israeli bombs threaten lives across the Gaza Strip.
Calling them “time bombs”, Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defense, said Israel dropped at least 200,000 tonnes of explosives on the territory, with roughly 70,000 tonnes failing to detonate, with children having been particularly affected, often mistaking bombs for toys.
The most recent case was seven-year-old Yahya Shorbasi and his sister Nabila, who were playing outside when they found what appeared to be a toy.
“They found a regular children’s toy – just an ordinary one. The girl was holding it. Then the boy took it and started tapping it with a coin. Suddenly, we heard the sound of an explosion. It went off in their hands,” their mother Latifa Shorbasi said.
Yahya’s right arm had to be amputated, while Nabila remains in intensive care.
Dr. Harriet, an emergency doctor at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, described the situation as “a public health catastrophe waiting to unfold”. She said children are being injured by items that look harmless – toys, cans, or debris – but are actually live explosives.
United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) head Luke David Irving said 328 people have already been killed or injured by unexploded ordnance since October 2023, adding between 5-10% of weapons fired into Gaza have failed to detonate, effectively turning the enclave into a minefield.
Tens of thousands of tonnes of bombs, including landmines, mortar rounds, and large bombs capable of flattening concrete buildings, remain buried across Gaza. Basal said clearing the explosives could take years and require millions of dollars.
“We are talking about 71,000 tons of explosives currently present in the Gaza Strip,” Basal noted. “These explosives still exist, and at any moment they could explode,” he said.
“It could happen when children tamper with them, or while civil defense teams work to recover bodies. A collision might happen and could lead to an explosion.” — QNN
