War is brutal and inhuman, yet even so, some action on the battlefield is still acknowledged as being unacceptable. Depending upon their nature and severity, some incidents may be regarded as morally wrong, and others may be deemed war crimes under international law. The deliberate and calculated killing of innocent children inevitably falls under the latter category.
Please join Brian Gerrish and Patrick Henningsen as they watch and discuss the facts and implications emerging from the excellent ‘Two Girls Shot in Gaza — BBC Pieces Together What Happened and Looks at Dozens More Child Shootings’ documentary by Stephanie Hegarty, Population Correspondent for the BBC World Service. Her video investigates the deaths of children in Gaza, many just toddlers, who have been killed by aimed gunshots rather than more widespread blast and shrapnel from bombs and shells. Significantly, her research suggests that in many of the cases, the children were killed as a result of deliberate sniper fire by the IDF.Â
Strangely, or perhaps not, Stephanie’s short documentary, covering what would amount to many a war crime, is hidden away on the BBC’s website under a ‘World’ and ‘Middle East’ menu pathway. It is not listed in the much more visible and emotive Gaza section. In addition, the BBC fails to even credit Stephanie Hegarty for the documentary.
Before watching this vital UK Column discussion, we encourage viewers to read the BBC’s own description of this harrowing documentary. It states the following:
The BBC World Service has pieced together the stories of Layan al-Majdalawi, two, and Mira Tanboura, six, both killed in Gaza in separate incidents in November 2023, in areas where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was operating. In response to our findings, the IDF said the details of Layan and Mira’s cases had been recorded and ‘will be examined by the competent authorities’. It added: ‘Intentional harm to civilians, especially children, is strictly prohibited’.
Layan and Mira are just two of more than 160 cases of children shot in the war in Gaza, for whom we have gathered accounts. We found that in 95 of these cases, the child had been shot in the head or chest. In 59 of those, we obtained testimony from eyewitnesses, either directly or via human rights organisations and medics. The witnesses alleged that 57 of these children were shot by the IDF, and two were shot by Palestinians — one in celebratory gunfire and the other in a gang conflict. For the remaining 36 out of the 95 cases, we have no account of what happened. Israel bans foreign reporters from entering Gaza independently, and the destruction and displacement make gathering details difficult. The International Committee of the Red Cross has told the BBC the world cannot accept as a ‘new normal’ the type of warfare that allows so many children to be shot.
Lastly, UK Column strongly suggests that far from being a video documentary buried or hidden in plain sight on the BBC’s website, Stephanie Hegarty’s work to expose a war crime in Gaza involving children should be fully acknowledged and re-broadcast internationally. Moreover, her findings should already be helping to triggering a major international backlash against IDF snipers targeting children, as well as sending out a powerful call for an end to the wider slaughter in the Middle East.