Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemns baby ‘kidnap’ in Gaza by Israel

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has condemned the “kidnapping” of an infant Palestinian girl by an Israeli soldier in Gaza.

“The kidnapping of the infant girl from the Gaza Strip is evidence that the occupation army is committing the most heinous crimes against civilians without oversight or accountability,” it said in a statement. “The Ministry calls on the occupation authorities to immediately hand over the infant to the Palestinian National Authority.”

An Israeli soldier revealed last week that an officer took a Palestinian infant from Gaza after Israeli air strikes likely claimed the lives of her family. 

Shachar Mendelson, a friend of the soldier, told Army Radio on Sunday that Captain Harel Itach, from the Givati Brigade, who was later killed in battles in the northern Gaza Strip on 22 November, took the Palestinian orphan back into Israel. 

At present, very little is known about the whereabouts of the baby girl, when exactly she was taken or who her family are.

Israel has not responded publicly to any of the allegations. The Army Radio clip was also deleted after it became widely circulated.