Two children were gathering firewood for their father. They were killed by an Israeli drone
By Zeena Saifi, Abeer Salman, Tareq Al Hilou, CNN
Khan Younis, Gaza (CNN) — Tamer Abu Assi was preparing breakfast for his two young boys Saturday morning when he realized he had run out of firewood. Fadi, 8, and Jumaa, 10, went out to fetch some, as their father is paralyzed and wheelchair-bound.
They never came back.
Abu Assi was waiting for them to return so he could set the table, when nearby residents rushed to his shelter saying two kids had been targeted and killed by Israeli troops.
“Are they my children?” he recalled asking.
An agonizing wait ensued, as he went to identify the bodies.
“I removed the shroud and hugged them. My little Juju’s head was blown off; God rest his soul… His arms were severed and parts of his torso were gone,” he said, trembling. “Fadi’s right hand and left leg were cut off,” he added.
Jumaa and Fadi were killed by an Israeli drone strike in the town of Bani Suheila, to the east of their shelter in Khan Younis, according to the family.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged carrying out the strike in a statement, calling the children “two suspects who crossed the yellow line, conducted suspicious activities on the ground, and approached IDF troops operating in the southern Gaza Strip, posing an immediate threat to them.”
“Following the identification, the IAF (Israeli Air Force) eliminated the suspects in order to remove the threat,” it continued.
An invisible line
Bani Suheila falls in territory occupied by Israeli forces in Gaza to the east of the so-called “yellow line.” But with few markers on the ground, it can be difficult to distinguish the contours of that line. Since the ceasefire went into effect in October, Palestinians have been killed frequently by Israeli forces along the invisible demarcation line. The Israeli military has repeatedly described them as “terrorists” who are “posing an immediate threat.”
The deaths of the two children add to a Gaza death toll that’s still rising seven weeks into the ceasefire. Over the weekend, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said more than 70,000 people have been killed since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack in Israel, including more than 10,000 women and 20,000 children.
The number has steadily climbed as emergency crews recover bodies from the rubble. More than 600 bodies have been retrieved since the ceasefire began, according to the ministry, but the number is still expected to rise dramatically. Gaza’s Civil Defense has estimated that there are 10,000 bodies buried under the rubble throughout the shattered enclave.
In addition, more than 350 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the ceasefire began, the ministry said.
A new report published by The Platform, a coalition of 13 Israeli human rights organizations, concluded that 2025 saw “wider, deeper and unprecedented harm” to Palestinian human rights in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The report, obtained by CNN, described a “profound shift” in the nature of the war and “Israel’s mechanisms of control” this year, one in which it said “extreme violations became standard operating procedure.”
The day before Jumaa was killed, he asked his father to sing his favorite song for him. Abu Assi wasn’t feeling too well and told him he would do it after his medical checkup the next day.
“I told him, come with me to the checkup and I’ll sing all your favorite songs for you, my son,” Abu Assi said, remembering the final memory of his children, as tears streamed down his face.
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