War Crimes Safari › Incidents › 06
06Gaza toddler returned from Israeli detention with reported cigarette burns
- A 21-month-old returned from detention with circular burns doctors said match cigarettes.
- Ten hours in military custody; his father did not come back with him.
- X-rays ruled out the army's shrapnel explanation, Gaza doctors said.
On 19 March 2026, Israeli forces detained 21-month-old Jawad Abu Nassar and his father Osama near the al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, and the toddler was handed back through the Red Cross about ten hours later with circular wounds on his legs that his family and doctors at a Gaza hospital said were consistent with deliberate cigarette burns. The Israeli military rejected the abuse allegations as unfounded, suggesting the marks were splinter or shrapnel injuries, while the father reportedly remained in detention.
🇮🇱 Official responseIDF response (via Times of Israel)
⚑ Excuse: on file
🕊 Response: condemnation & concern⚖ Sanctions: none✈ Arms exports: uninterrupted
The record — 10 sources
Date, publication and headline for each source, as the source itself published them. Sorted by publication date. 9 of 10 dated; a blank means the publisher's page didn't expose it, and we don't guess.
| Date | Publication | Headline |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-23 | UN expert warns torture has become ‘state doctrine’ in Israel, making prisons instruments of genocide and torture | |
| 2026-03-23 | TRT World - Israeli soldiers reportedly torture one-year-old child in Gaza to force confessions from his father | |
| 2026-03-24 | Israeli soldiers accused of ‘torturing’ toddler in Gaza | |
| 2026-03-25 | Gaza toddler released from Israeli custody with ‘cigarette burn’ wounds | |
| 2026-03-27 | Israeli soldiers torture baby with cigarettes | |
| 2026-03-27 | Toddler returned to mum with ‘cigarette burns’ after Israeli detention | |
| 2026-04-02 | Gaza family says toddler released from Israeli custody found with cigarette burn marks | CBC News | |
| 2026-04-09 | Jawad’s ordeal: A Gaza toddler’s trauma after Israeli torture | |
| 2026-07-11 | The Man Who Walked Toward the "Yellow Line" in Gaza—and the Son He Carried With Him | |
| — | Affidavit: The Torture of 22-Month-Old Jawad |