The story began to unravel: Soldiers shoot children

In response to our findings, the Israel Defense Forces IDF said the details of Layan and Mira's cases had been recorded and "will be examined by the competent authorities".

It added: "Intentional harm to civilians, especially children, is strictly prohibited."

Layan al-Majdalawi

As revealed by the BBC, two-and-a-half-year-old Layan al-Majdalawi was shot along with her father when they were walking with their family through the streets of Gaza City in November 2023.

"We found a shelter in Gaza City when the IDF bombardment started and they ordered us to evacuate," says 12-year-old sister Layan al-Majdalawi, Shad.

As she stated, on November 9, 2023, they were ordered to leave an elementary school, when they headed through the streets of the city. There was no fight then.

"We were walking together, we were in front of our father, who was playing and singing with Layan. Then I looked to the left and saw a tank. We started running and were significantly ahead of my father, who was slower because he was carrying Layan. We looked behind us and saw that he was lying on the floor," she said.

"We thought he had fallen. My brother and I ran to help when we saw he had been shot. We tried to grab Layan, but then the shooting started again. I tried to grab my sister, but then they shot me in the arm. I held her hand to pull her away. That's when they shot me," said 12-year-old Shad.

She then added that the father called out to them to move immediately and leave him on the floor. They ran away and never saw their father or Layan again.

The footage showing the father and Layan was also analyzed by Professor Derrick Pounder from the University of Dundee.

"It is most likely that one bullet hit the girl, passed through her and hit her father, after which they collapsed. There is no evidence that it was an explosion," he explained.

Mira Tanboura

Six-year-old Mira Tanboura, according to her father, was shot from behind near the Israeli checkpoint located on Salah al-Din Street. It was this street that the IDF declared an evacuation route on November 18, 2023.

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"I turned around and saw that the sniper shot my Mira in the heart," he said.

"I'm sure it was a sniper because there was only one shot that hit her in the heart. My little girl was hit and fell on the floor. She was bleeding from her nose and mouth," said the father of six-year-old Mira.

He rushed her to al-Awda Hospital where they could only pronounce her dead, her father added.

"New normal"

Layan and Mira are just two of more than 160 cases of children shot in the war in Gaza, for whom BBC has gathered accounts.

It was found that in 95 of these cases, the child had been shot in the head or chest. In 59 of those, we obtained testimony from eyewitnesses, either directly or via human rights organisations and medics.

The witnesses alleged that 57 of these children were shot by the IDF, and two were shot by Palestinians - one in celebratory gunfire and the other in a gang conflict.

For the remaining 36 out of the 95 cases, we have no account of what happened.

Entry ban on foreign journalists

BBC recalls that Israel bans foreign reporters from entering Gaza independently, and the destruction and displacement make gathering details difficult. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross had told the BBC the world cannot accept as a ''new normal'' the type of warfare that allows so many children to be shot.