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Bahaa Abu al-Ajeen was walking his 3-year-old son, Rayan, back to the tarpaulin-covered shack<\/a> they called home, a makeshift dwelling providing some shelter from the sun on a war-ruined farm in central Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n The father and son walked in what was designated as a safe area for civilians close to the \u201cyellow line<\/a>,\u201d a boundary marked with yellow blocks and flags that divides Palestinian-controlled parts of the Gaza Strip from areas under Israeli military control. But al-Ajeen, 38, said that as they were confronted by Israeli soldiers<\/a>, he froze.<\/p>\n \u201cAt that moment, I did not know whether to move forward or backward,\u201d he said. As Rayan began screaming, al-Ajeen, whose family has long farmed in the area, picked up his son and began walking again.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when the soldiers fired what the Israeli military later described as \u201cwarning\u201d shots.<\/p>\n The third shot struck Rayan in the head, al-Ajeen told NBC News from al-Aqsa Hospital on June 15, a day after the incident. \u201cAfter that, they shot at me, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Al-Ajeen tried to call for an ambulance but, he said, the soldiers took his phone and dragged him beyond the yellow line, still carrying Rayan, who was bleeding from his chest.<\/p>\n \u201cI told them: \u2018The child is dying. You killed him in cold blood,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201c\u2018What has this child done wrong?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo medical assistance whatsoever\u201d was provided to his dying son, he said, and it was hours in detention before the gunshot wound to his own leg was treated.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/gaza-z7vqnt.jpg\")
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