"Baby killers"
The primary accusation leveled against the IDF is that of "baby killers" - despite the total absence of even a single documented instance of a child being intentionally targeted or shot by the IDF. Not one.
Now, the mechanics of this deliberate fraud have been fully exposed:
For two years, the Hamas Ministry of Health deceitfully classified every single natural death in Gaza as a casualty of war. This occurs despite the statistical baseline that, even before the conflict, approximately 600 infants died in Gaza annually from natural causes during their first year of life. (Gaza has a very high rate of cousin marriage- **around 20% to 45%** of all marriage - which significantly increases the risk of genetic diseases and birth defects in children.)
So what did Hamas's ministry do?
They cynically rebranded these natural infant deaths, falsely reporting that Israel executed 915 babies between 2023 and 2025, while attributing precisely zero infant deaths to natural causes.
Major media publications swallowed and amplified this manipulation wholesale. For instance, a sprawling Washington Post project published in late July 2025 - which cataloged the names of roughly 18,500 allegedly killed children - was built entirely on these fraudulent Gaza Ministry of Health figures - but even taking these figures show a very high proportion of reported child fatalities that are actually older male adolescents aged 13 to 17- skewing the data because standard definitions classify anyone under 18 as a child, despite this specific demographic frequently functioning as active combatants, scouts, couriers, or logistical support in militant operations, a dynamic reflected in casualty analyses published by outlets like *The Washington Post* and in Hamas own publications about young "heros".