{"id":619745,"date":"2026-09-18T07:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T07:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/619745\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T07:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T07:02:08","slug":"run-get-away-witnesses-recount-israeli-double-tap-strike-that-killed-child-and-medic-in-gaza-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/619745\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Run! Get away!\u2019: witnesses recount Israeli \u2018double tap\u2019 strike that killed child and medic in Gaza | Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mohammad Abdul Zinati was walking home from school through the rubble of Salah Khalaf Street, in northern Gaza<\/a> City, when he stopped at a supermarket where a group of classmates and friends had gathered.<\/p>\n

Shortly before 3:30pm, an explosion tore through the air. Along with several others, Mohammad rushed into the street to see what had happened.<\/p>\n

When the smoke and dust cleared, they saw a man lying bleeding on the dusty road. He was badly wounded, but still alive. The man was calling for help, and Mohammad ran towards him.<\/p>\n

He did not hear the shouts of his cousin, who had spotted an approaching Israeli drone. Within seconds, the drone released a glide bomb, designed to allow operators to identify and strike targets with a high degree of accuracy.<\/p>\n

The munition plunged towards the street, detonating just metres from the teenager. Mohammad did not have time to react before a second blast killed him.<\/p>\n

Mohammad Abdul Zinati Photograph: Handout<\/p>\n

The Guardian verified footage of the attack, and spoke to witnesses and weapons experts in an effort to shed light on the latest Israeli strike to kill a child in Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe heard a loud explosion and tried to make our way to the scene to find out what had happened,\u201d said Tamer Lubbad, a witness who filmed the attack. \u201cWe found a man lying on the ground. He was still alive and calling for help.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man injured in the initial strike <\/a>was later identified by Gaza\u2019s civil defense as the paramedic Sharif Shadi Labad. The Israeli military said that Labad was targeted because he was a Hamas militant.<\/p>\n

Several other civilians approached Labad, as he lay injured in the street. Among them was Mohammad Zinati\u2019s cousin, Mohammed Rajeh Zinati, 26.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ran from the house towards the street to find out what had happened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn my way, I saw my cousin coming out of the supermarket. He was running towards the site of the strike. I started shouting at him: \u2018Mohammad, stop!\u2019 but he didn\u2019t hear me and kept going. Then I saw a drone in the sky.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started shouting: \u2018Run! Get away!\u2019 At that moment, Mohammad had reached the injured man. As soon as he got there, the drone struck him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMohammad was hit directly in the chest and abdomen and was killed almost instantly. I couldn\u2019t do anything to rescue him,\u201d said Zinati.<\/p>\n

Palestinians bid farewell to the body of Sharif Shadi Labad at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Photograph: Mohammed Salha\/APAImages\/ShutterstockSharif Shadi Labad<\/p>\n

Video filmed later showed Mohammad\u2019s body lying under a white shroud outside al-Shifa hospital after the attack, as his father bid him an emotional farewell, reciting verses from the Qur\u2019an.<\/p>\n

People who knew Mohammad said he was a much-loved figure in the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a kind, helpful, polite and respectful boy,\u201d his cousin said. \u2018\u2018He would help elderly to collect water from the water trucks. When he was killed, people from the neighbourhood came out into the street, crying for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IDF has repeatedly rejected allegations that it deliberately targets civilians, saying it assesses and takes into account the risk of civilian harm when carrying out strikes.<\/p>\n

However, weapons experts who reviewed the video said the teenager\u2019s death may have been avoidable.<\/p>\n

Relatives mourn as the bodies of Palestinians killed in the airstrike on the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood are taken to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday. Photograph: MMT Jaras\/Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2018The bomb that is visible before impact is a Mikholit, which is deployed by Israeli unmanned vehicles (UAVs) or drones<\/a>, said Trevor Ball, a conflict researcher and trainer at Bellingcat and drone expert. \u2018\u2018These UAVs have high-quality cameras that would have been able to see the teenager and the man approaching the body. Some variants of the Mikholit at least are capable of being redirected to a different target\/point while in flight.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The strike that killed the teenager and the paramedic appears to fit the pattern commonly described as a \u201cdouble-tap\u201d attack<\/a>: an initial strike followed by a second on the same location after rescuers or bystanders have arrived to help the wounded.<\/p>\n

In a statement to the Guardian, the Israeli military said Sharif Shadi Ibrahim Labad was a Hamas terrorist who belonged to the elite Nukhba forces. The IDF stated that Labad had participated in the 7 October attacks in 2023 at the Erez border crossing and was targeted because he was planning new operations.<\/p>\n

Asked why the second attack went ahead when its target was visibly a minor, the military did not respond, but said it \u2018\u2018is aware of reports indicating that an uninvolved individual was harmed as a result of the strike targeting the terrorist, regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and makes every effort to minimise such harm\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Israeli military said the incident was under review.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, medical sources in Gaza reported an Israeli strike on al-Bureij refugee camp that killed an adult and a five-year-old child, identified as Udai al-Muridi.<\/p>\n

A pregnant Palestinian woman died<\/a> on Saturday from injuries sustained after being shot in the head by Israeli forces south of Khan Younis, according to her family and medical workers.<\/p>\n

The woman, named as Iman Shalouf, 27, who was nearly eight months pregnant, was sitting inside her family\u2019s tent in the Mawasi area when Israeli gunfire struck her, according to paramedics and witnesses.<\/p>\n

The Israeli military said it had no information about the killing of the pregnant woman.<\/p>\n

According to Unicef<\/a>, several other children have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza in recent days, including two sisters aged six and 12, who were killed with their parents in an airstrike on Beit Lahia while they slept, and three other girls aged, three, eight and nine, who were killed by gunfire.<\/p>\n

According to the territory\u2019s health ministry, 1,369 Palestinians have been killed and 4,627 wounded since the fragile ceasefire took effect on 11 October 2025. Since Israel\u2019s war in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, at least 73,783 Palestinians have been killed and 174,738 wounded, according to health officials.<\/p>\n