Report reveals single gunshot wound to head or chest among children, raising concerns of deliberate targeting
International doctors working in Gaza have reported a disturbing pattern of gunshot wounds among children, raising concerns of deliberate targeting, according to an investigation published Saturday by the Dutch daily de Volkskrant.
The newspaper spoke with 17 doctors and a nurse from the US, UK, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands who worked in six hospitals and four clinics in Gaza since October 2023. Many had long experience in crisis zones, including Sudan, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
Fifteen of them told de Volkskrant they treated at least 114 children aged 15 or younger with a single gunshot wound to the head or chest. Most of those children died of their injuries. The cases were documented between late 2023 and mid-2025 in 10 different medical facilities.
One of the doctors, US trauma surgeon Feroze Sidhwa, recalled his first day at the European Hospital in Gaza in March 2024, where he found four boys under 10 with identical head wounds within 48 hours, according to the report.
"How is it possible that here in this small hospital, within 48 hours, four children have come in who were shot in the head?" he told the paper. Over the following 13 days, he encountered nine more children with similar wounds.
Sidhwa later met a colleague who confirmed seeing the same injuries "almost every day" in another hospital. "That was the moment I decided: I have to find out what is happening here," he said.
Doctors interviewed stressed that such injuries were unlikely to be accidental. Forensic experts consulted by the newspaper said the uniform pattern suggested aimed fire, possibly by snipers or drones.
Israel has consistently denied accusations that its forces deliberately target civilians, including children.
The physicians quoted described the moral dilemma they face: speaking out could mean being barred from returning to Gaza.
According to the UN, Israel has denied entry to more than 100 international health workers since March 2025 without a detailed explanation.
Still, many insist silence is no longer an option. "Not talking is not an option anymore," one doctor told de Volkskrant.
