She lost her right hand on 6 May 2015. Walking home from school, she spotted what she thought was a toy and picked it up. It turned out to be an unexploded device from past conflicts.

In November 2025, a story emerged online alleging that Israeli military personnel had abandoned "booby-trapped toys" aimed at luring and harming children in Gaza. ... Snopes was unable to independently verify this assertion. ... The report indicated that "no images of explosives resembling toys or phone casings have been documented thus far."

A viral post claims that Israeli forces have left behind booby-trapped dolls and food cans in Gaza, allegedly to harm returning civilians. ... The cans are actually metal containers, and the purple Teletubby doll was filmed in Yemen a few years ago.

According to unnamed police and security officials, the Israeli military had left behind explosives camouflaged as food cans, children's toys, and phone casings. ... Palestinian officials cited in the report admitted they lacked photographic proof of the supposed items.

Gaza City had been the focus of the final Israeli military offensive before the deal was reached between Israel and Hamas, and returning civilians faced a landscape littered with unexploded ordnance.[5] In one case, twins Yahya and Nabila encountered a spherical object while playing, and upon touching it, it detonated, severely wounding them; they had thought it was a toy.[5] Gaza's Health Ministry reported that five children were injured by unexploded ordnance in the past week, and UNMAS recorded at least 52 Palestinians killed and 267 injured due to unexploded ordnance since the onset of the conflict, highlighting the danger of war remnants but without attributing these devices to deliberate disguising as toys by Israeli forces.[5]

A viral post claims that Israeli forces have left behind booby-trapped dolls and food cans in Gaza, allegedly to harm returning civilians.[3] The video fact-check explains that the purple Teletubby doll shown in widely shared footage "has not been found in Gaza" and that the clip was actually posted in July 2018 and filmed in Yemen, where such techniques have been documented, meaning the toy image was misattributed to Gaza.[3] It also notes that containers presented online as "cans of food" were in fact technical equipment for fuses, requiring at least 63 kg to detonate and thus not booby-trapped food cans that would explode when opened.[3]

Middle East Eye recounts that in 1997 Lebanese newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour reported a "phenomenon" in southern Lebanon of bombs "intentionally concealed in children's toys" allegedly dropped by Israeli aircraft, including a case where a nine-year-old girl’s hand was shredded after picking up a "big apple-green plastic jeep" that exploded.[4] A 1998 letter from the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the United Nations claimed that Israeli fighter planes had "attempted to kill children by dropping thousands of booby-trapped toys on Lebanese villages and towns" and asserted that "the Israeli occupying forces have used this method through the years and continue to do so".[4] Israel denied the accusations at the time, calling them "despicable," though a 2000 UK Foreign Affairs Committee report later mentioned the use of "booby-trapped toys, allegedly dropped by the Israeli airforce" in southern Lebanon, without definitive confirmation.[4]

An Instagram post summarising statements by Gaza's Director General of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Muneer Alboursh, says that "children in the Gaza Strip are facing a lethal, hidden threat from the remnants of war, including unexploded ordnance and devices intentionally disguised as toys." It quotes Alboursh's Facebook post: "The occupation army left behind not only destroyed homes but also ticking bombs in the hands of children," and alleges that items such as "dolls, teddy bears, and colorful balls" are being used to lure and injure children, turning a "bride doll" and a "small teddy bear" into explosive devices.

A Facebook post by YeniSafak English relays that Gaza's health authorities are "reporting a severe and persistent threat to children from explosive remnants of war, a situation compounded by the use of booby-trapped devices disguised as common toys."[2] It quotes Gaza’s Director General of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Muneer Alboursh, alleging that such devices "blending among the rubble and debris, continue to maim and kill children who mistake them for playthings" and that some explosives "appear as dolls, stuffed animals, or colorful balls," condemning this as a deliberate tactic.[2] The post presents these as allegations by Palestinian health officials but does not provide photographic or forensic evidence identifying the origin or maker of the alleged devices.[2]

A Facebook post by Mohamad Safa discusses viral claims that "Israel left behind bombs disguised as toys in Gaza" and notes: "This post is the single source of this claim that I can find, with extensive searching and with Google Gemini’s help. It is a claim without any evidence offered."[9] Safa states that, while there is "a very real and tragic history of unexploded ordnance in Lebanon," the specific image circulated in relation to Gaza "does not show a bomb" but "a literal, everyday miniature toy soccer ball lying in the dirt," concluding "No, this is false" with respect to that particular Gaza toy-bomb claim.[9]

A Reddit discussion on r/lebanon asks whether it is true that in 2006 "Israel threw booby trapped children toys"; one commenter reports finding a UN report and other documents mentioning "toys rigged with explosives," but distinguishes between incidents where injuries "had actually been caused by toys rigged with explosives" and others in which children found mines or unexploded ordnance (e.g., cluster bombs) which they thought were balls.[6] Another commenter summarizes: "The point OP was asking about was that Israel put explosives into toys, and that was a lie and propaganda that Hizeb spread to show how bad and heartless our enemy is," reflecting a view that such stories have been used as propaganda and are not supported by clear evidence.[6]

An article on English.palinfo.com, a pro-Palestinian outlet, describes what it calls "Explosives disguised as children's toys: An Israeli crime unfolds in Gaza" and alleges that in areas of Gaza "returning to destroyed homes" has become dangerous because of hidden explosives. It repeats claims that devices "camouflaged among rubble" have been "deliberately disguised as dolls, teddy bears, and other playthings" to harm children, presenting these allegations as evidence of Israeli crimes but without providing verifiable images or independent forensic documentation of such disguised devices.

An Amnesty International report on foreign arms supplies to Israel and Gaza documents various munitions used by the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza, including 155mm illuminating shells landing in residential areas, flechette shells that killed children, and drone-launched missiles dispersing tiny metal cubes designed to cause maximum injury.[4] The report details the humanitarian impact and potential violations of international law but does not mention explosives deliberately disguised as toys.[4] It focuses on the types, effects, and locations of conventional weapons and submunitions rather than toy-shaped devices.[4]

An Instagram reel describes "the explosive laden toys targeting civilian children" and claims to talk about "this very same thing following the Lebanon pager attack," asserting a continuity of alleged Israeli use of disguised explosive devices in civilian contexts.[8] The post is framed as commentary and advocacy, not as a presentation of forensic evidence, and does not provide independent verification or documentation of toy-like explosive devices in Gaza.[8]

A Reddit post on r/Palestine titled "The explosives disguised as toys being dropped in Gaza" calls for "evidence" to be sent to international bodies such as the ICC, ICJ, and UN Protection of Children in Armed Conflict.[7] Commenters discuss the seriousness of the allegation and the need for proof, but the thread does not present verified photographs, reports, or official documentation confirming that the IDF deployed explosives disguised specifically as toys in Gaza.[7]

Amnesty International USA, in a 2024 press release, states that U.S.-supplied weapons provided to the government of Israel "have been used in serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law" in Gaza, citing strikes on densely populated areas and civilian infrastructure.[9] The document focuses on arms transfers, targeting practices, and civilian harm; it does not allege that Israel has deployed explosive devices disguised as toys.[9]