Overview
- Jawad Abu Nassar, 21 months, was detained with his father near Gaza’s Maghazi camp on March 19 and was returned about 10 hours later through the International Committee of the Red Cross, the family said.
- His mother and a treating physician reported burns around his knees and puncture injuries, with Dr Bisan Ahmed saying the lesions were clinically consistent with deliberate cigarette burns.
- The Israeli military rejected the abuse claims as unfounded, released footage of the handover, and said the child was hurt by shrapnel from warning fire, adding the father identified himself as a Hamas operative who used the boy as a human shield.
- The father, Osama Abu Nassar, has not been seen since the detention, and relatives say they have received no clear information about his status or condition.
- The Red Cross confirmed it took the child from Israeli authorities and reunited him with his family but declined to discuss his condition, reflecting the wider challenge of independently verifying allegations in restricted buffer zones inside Gaza.