Where Is Duha? Netizens Want Answers After Palestinian Girl Disappeared in Gaza

The UN Human Rights Council and the charity Save the Children have reported on thousands of cases of Palestinian children who have been detained, disappeared or abducted after Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Users on social media are drawing attention to the story of Duha Talat, an 8-year-old Palestinian girl apparently removed from Gaza by an Israel Defense Forces soldier.

Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi reported on the story on his account on the X platform Saturday, writing that the young girl’s whereabouts have been unknown since July.

Tirawi, who is known for monitoring and reporting on the contents of IDF members’ social media accounts, recently uncovered an Instagram post made by Ido Zahar, a soldier serving in the Israeli military’s 432nd Tzabar Battalion. Zahar posted a photo of himself with Talat with no members of her family present. The girl was reportedly taken into custody by the IDF near Gaza’s Rafah border crossing in late July.

Zahar quickly deleted the photo and set his account to private after the Instagram post drew public scrutiny.

The soldier responded combatively when asked for comment on the incident, replying, “No story. No face. No nothing. Please delete this completely from everywhere.”

The Israeli military was similarly tightlipped when Tirawi inquired, with a spokesperson only saying that the incident was reportedly being investigated. Observers noted a similar incident took place late last year when the story emerged of a baby taken from Gaza by an Israeli military captain. During an interview broadcast on the IDF’s radio station Israeli soldier Shahar Mendelson told the story of a crying infant who was taken back to Israel after the IDF’s assault on Gaza City.

A post about the incident on the X platform was reportedly deleted by an official Israeli military account after it was pointed out that the child’s abduction could constitute a war crime. The incident received coverage in Israeli media after the Palestinian foreign ministry called for an investigation.

“A report by Save the Children, titled ‘The Missing Children of Gaza,’ estimated that thousands of children are missing in Gaza, including what the organization describes as ‘detained, disappeared, or abducted [minors],”’ wrote Tirawi. “The UN Human Rights Council, in a press release from May, reported numerous cases of women and girls from Gaza being forcibly disappeared by the Israeli military.

Tirawi made contact with another soldier from the Tzabar Battalion who claimed Talat was taken into Israeli custody for “safety reasons” after an elderly family member reportedly offered to reveal the locations of Hamas tunnels in Gaza.

“We believe it is in the public interest to know the whereabouts and safety of this girl,” continued Tirawi on X. “We also urge any relevant authorities to provide more information about the missing girl.”

Users on social media have taken up the call to draw attention to the story, hoping to convince major media outlets to bring light to young Duha’s case. Users fear Talat has been kidnapped or may suffer the same fate as Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl who was tragically killed along with her family and two paramedics in January by IDF soldiers outside Gaza City. The act of child homicide led to international condemnation.

Almost 17,000 children have been killed since Israel’s invasion of Gaza last October, according to recent figures from the territory’s health ministry, about 2.6 percent of all children in Gaza. Thousands more have been left trapped under the rubble of Israeli strikes and are presumed dead.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has previously refused to sanction Israeli military units credibly accused of serious human rights violations against Palestinian children, including physical and sexual assault.