The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released images of what appears to be kids manning rocket launchers and holding military weapons on Wednesday, Jan 3. The IDF also claimed Hamas sends children to the front lines of combat, according to the New York Post.
Israeli military officials report that 170 children are fighting alongside Hamas, with some coerced onto battlefields under the pretext of “assessing damages” afterward.
Children deliver messages and ammunition, while terrorists “hide in shelters,” according to the IDF.
Israel contends that children are taught in schools, youth movements and summer camps that “killing Jews and Israelis is justified.”
“Terrorism is not innate, it is learned,” the IDF posted on X.
Israeli military officials told Fox News that Hamas runs summer camps where children are trained to fire weapons, engage in combat against tanks and participate in activities related to the kidnapping of soldiers. The terrorist group also reportedly prepares the children for tunnel combat.
IDF officials said kids hide explosives in vegetable bags and deliver them to Hamas operatives who ambush Israeli soldiers.
These images and discoveries released by the Israeli government come at a pivotal time.
Hamas claims that Israeli forces assassinated founding member Saleh Arouri on Tuesday in Hezbollah’s southern Beirut stronghold. Israel is not commenting on reports or taking responsibility for the killing, however, one day after the strike, Israel’s Mossad Intelligence Service vowed to pursue every Hamas leader implicated in the Oct. 7 massacre.
If Israelis are behind the assassination of Arouri, it could lead to an all-out war on Lebanon’s border. Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, promised revenge, stating that Arouri’s killing would not go “without response and without punishment.”
Nasrallah added that Hezbollah has been careful in its strategy in conflict, balancing “the need to support Gaza and take into account Lebanese national interests.” Nasrallah added that if Israelis launch a war in Lebanon, the group is ready for a “fight without limits.”
According to USA Today, the escalation on Lebanon’s border may have already started.
The Israeli military released footage Thursday showing military strikes on Hezbollah. The IDF said a number of launches from Lebanon toward Israel were identified. In response, Israel took out a Hezbollah observation post and an “anti-tank missile terrorist cell” in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah announced fighters attacked 11 Israeli posts along the border.
The escalating tension coincides with a shift in strategy involving the IDF reducing the number of troops in Gaza. According to The Hill, five brigades, consisting of several thousand troops, are withdrawing from the Gaza Strip.
The change in approach follows a December visit from U.S. officials in an effort to get Israel to scale down the fighting after over 20,000 Gazans died, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Defense Ministry. Israeli officials say the war will likely last throughout 2024 but in lower intensity.
On Tuesday, IDF chief spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that Israel was prepared to completely defeat Hamas.
“The most important thing to say tonight is that we are focused and remain focused on fighting Hamas,” Hagari said.
