Israel Kills Rayan, Not Yet 3, in Gaza, Palestinian Father Bahaa Abu Al-Ajeen Says

Palestinian father Bahaa Abu al-Ajeen said Israeli soldiers killed his son Rayan, who was not yet 3, in Gaza last Sunday, in a scene he said recalled the killing of Palestinian child Mohammed al-Durrah nearly a quarter-century ago.

Speaking to Anadolu from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, Abu al-Ajeen said he was walking on foot with his child when Israeli soldiers opened fire from a very short distance, and he said a bullet hit Rayan in the head and exited through his eye.

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Abu al-Ajeen said soldiers then fired at him, hitting his feet and causing him to fall while still holding his child, and he said the moments that followed were harsher than death itself.

He told Anadolu that soldiers wrapped Rayan in a nylon bag and threw him aside as if he had no value, and he said he was left bleeding outdoors near dogs for hours before being dumped in an abandoned area at midnight with his child’s body beside him.

UN News described a separate case in Gaza in which a 13-year-old, Abed al-Rahman, was instantly riddled with shell fragments after an explosion rang out near a line of people waiting for food distribution, and it said he looked into the camera and said there was nothing here to help him.

In a video testimony aired by Al Jazeera, the injured mother of seven-month-old Sam Abu Heikal said she was cradling her child when she heard the gunfire, and the clip described how the bullet pierced her husband’s arm before lodging in her baby’s body.

The Al Jazeera report said B'Tselem released video footage showing the first moments of the shooting in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron, and it said the Israeli soldier who opened fire left the scene with another soldier without checking the car or providing any medical aid to the injured baby and his mother.

Al Jazeera

B'Tselem accused Israeli authorities of entrenching what it described as impunity for violations against Palestinians, and it said the lack of international accountability for Israel has contributed to a rise in civilian targeting.

In Gaza, Anadolu reported that Abu al-Ajeen called for an international investigation to determine the circumstances of the killing and hold those responsible accountable, and it said his grief was compounded by the killing of Rayan.

Mondoweiss also carried Abu al-Ajeen’s account of the June 14 killing, including his hospital-bed statement that “The soldier got down on one knee, aimed at my child’s head, and killed him. One bullet,” and it said he wished they had killed him instead.

UN News said UNICEF figures show thousands of Gazan children are affected by malnutrition, and it reported that in May 2025 more than 5,000 children aged 6 months to 5 years were admitted to UNICEF-supported nutrition centers.

It added that nearly 50% more children were admitted in May than in April, and it said 636 suffer from severe acute malnutrition, while it warned that the stock of ready-to-use therapeutic foods has nearly run out.

UN News also said fewer than half of malnutrition treatment centers remain operational—127 out of 236—and it warned that the combination of malnutrition and disease creates a vicious circle in which a child weakened by hunger is more vulnerable to infections.

In the separate Gaza killing recounted by Anadolu, Abu al-Ajeen said he appealed for an international investigation and told the world what happened to his child, and he said those responsible must be held accountable.

In Hebron, B'Tselem’s account as carried by Al Jazeera said the incident killed seven-month-old Sam Abu Heikal and left his parents with injuries of varying severity, and it said the organization described the reality as Palestinian lives treated as expendable under Israeli rule even though the victim was a seven-month-old infant.