Israeli officer takes Palestinian infant from Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM

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

Shachar Mendelson, a friend of the soldier, told Army Radio on Sunday that Capt. Harel Itach, from the Givati Brigade, who was later killed in battles in the northern Gaza Strip on Nov. 22, took the Palestinian infant to a hospital in Israel.

Asked about the infant, Mendelson said: "Itach spoke to a friend during his service in Gaza and told him that while in one of the houses he entered, he heard a baby cry, and decided to take her to Israel."

Asked if the infant's family was likely killed in an Israeli airstrike and there was no one around her, Mendelson responded: "That is correct."

The soldier and Army Radio said nothing further about what happened to the infant.

It is not clear whether this is an isolated incident or if similar things have occurred.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio​​​​​​​