Palestinians in Israel have also been using young children as an informal army of rock throwers, Molotov cocktail throwers, lynch mobs, and occasionally suicide bombers as well. (See report below - Rioters as young as nine years old.)
The media is partly to blame because of the prominence they give to reports of child casualties. During the Gaza war journalists turned their media into an uninterrupted dead-children porn exhibit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is part of the transcript of a Harvard Medical School podcast with plastic surgeon Sumner Slavin who, after spending time in the Middle East, started a fellowship program to teach plastic surgeons from the region advanced techniques and procedures.
Despite the conflict, some amazing things happened.
To give you an example: About a year or two ago, a Palestinian boy in the Gaza Strip threw a grenade at Israeli soldiers. A not unusual event. In doing so, because he was ten years old, he blew his arm off. His arm was on the ground. The soldiers picked him up, and his arm, lifted him by helicopter from the Gaza Strip to Beersheba.
A team of microsurgeons went to work immediately to restore the arm and reconnect it. Both of those were plastic surgeons trained in microsurgery here.
They were successful; the boy's arm was reattached, he was returned to the Gaza Strip.
This is not an isolated incident, as Dr. Slavin indicates. There is evidence that recruiting children for fighting is widespread in Gaza - including pre-teens.
In a pro-terror message forum, the obituary for nine-year old Obaid Fadel Abu Hwaisehl says that he was killed helping his uncle performing jihadi tasks. The boy was buried with full Hamas honors and wrapped in its flag, just like mujahidin.