17 year-old Muhannad al Qarra was recruited by the Islamic Jihad terrorist group. Photo: Elder of Ziyon

A 17 year-old Gazan boy who was listed as a civilian killed during the war between Israel and Hamas over the summer had in fact been recruited by the terrorist group, Islamic Jihad.

“Muhannad al-Qarra was, of course, considered one of the ‘children’ killed mercilessly by Israel during the war,” wrote blogger Elder of Ziyon. “It turns out that he was an Islamic Jihad terrorist, whose obituary was just published.”

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child specifies that parties to armed conflict “shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons below the age of 18 do not take a direct part in hostilities and that they are not compulsorily recruited into their armed forces.”

During the 2014 Gaza war, al Qarra transported weapons to  terrorists in different areas of Gaza as a member of Islamic Jihad’s Saraya Brigades, even though he was under 18. Al Qarra’s obituary quotes his brother saying that Muhannad frequently talked of “ejecting” Jews from “Palestine.”

In a separate post, Elder noted:

Using the most recent list of Gaza dead that included ages and genders, 88 out of 124 kids from ages 9-17 were boys – 70%. The ratio goes up the older the teens are, from 62% of those 9-11 to 79% of those between 15-17.

It is apparent that terror groups are recruiting teens. The statistical evidence indicates that recruitment is happening much earlier. One would expect a similar amount of boys and girls being killed in Gaza, but that simply isn’t the case.

We already know that Hamas gives paramilitary training to teens in high school and  to younger children in summer camps.