Gazan boy reported to have been killed by IDF found alive, safe with his mother

Fox News reported on Thursday that Abdul Muhammad Hamdene ("Abboud"), an eight-year-old Gazan boy previously misidentified in media reports as having been killed by the IDF in May, is alive and has been safely evacuated with his mother. The American-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which led the search, confirmed that Abboud and his mother, Najlaa, were relocated to a secure, undisclosed location.

“Outside the Gaza Strip is nice,” Abboud told Fox News. “My son and I suffered a lot, but thank God. I just want him to live in peace. I am grateful to everyone who helped us,” Najlaa said.

Anthony Aguilar, a former U.S. military officer and former GHF contractor, initiated the media confusion over the boy’s fate by claiming that he personally witnessed the boy being killed close to a GHF humanitarian aid site in Gaza on May 28. However, scrutiny of his account showed inconsistencies, as he repeatedly cited three different GHF distribution sites as the location of the incident.

“In my entire career, I have never witnessed the level of brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population, an unarmed, starving population,” Aguilar had stated in an interview.

“I have never witnessed that in all the places that I have been deployed to war, until I was in Gaza – at the hands of IDF and US contractors,” he added.

The GHF later refuted Aguilar’s claims, presenting evidence of fabricated documents and subsequently launched an investigation into the matter. Investigators ultimately located Abboud through interviews with local Gazans and the use of facial recognition and biometric software. Fox News later obtained footage of the boy smiling and playing with GHF staff.

“We are overjoyed and deeply relieved that Abboud is safe. This outcome was never guaranteed, and it was achieved thanks to the courage and persistence of our team," GHF Executive Chair Johnnie Moore said in an interview with Fox News.

“Too many people were quick to spread unverified claims. When a child’s life is at stake, facts must matter more than headlines,” Moore stated. Due to security reasons, Abboud and the mother will remain in an undisclosed location.

International media coverage of the Gaza war has faced criticism for inaccuracies and bias in reporting.

In July, outlets including the BBC and The New York Times were reported to have used images of Palestinian children in Gaza with genetic illnesses in coverage of alleged famine conditions. At the same time, critics argued that international media downplayed images of severely malnourished Israeli hostages such as Evyatar David.

In January 2024, the BBC issued an apology after broadcasting unverified claims that the IDF was executing civilian Gazans. The broadcaster acknowledged that, while it had attributed the accusations and included a response from the Israeli army, it “had not made sufficient effort to seek corroborating evidence to justify reporting the Hamas claim.”

A similar controversy arose in October 2023, when Israel was initially accused of bombing the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza. Israel later presented evidence indicating the blast was caused by a misfired rocket from Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Last September, BBC Chairman Samir Shah promised to conduct a “deep systematic” review of the news agency’s Middle East coverage following numerous allegations of anti-Israel bias.