A harrowing case of misinformation has been resolved: the young Gazan boy who was widely reported to have been killed by Israeli forces has been confirmed alive and safe, sparking relief—and serious concern over how quickly false accounts can spread.
On May 28, a former contractor named Tony Aguilar claimed a child—identified in his account as “Amir”—was fatally shot during an aid distribution site interaction. The story went viral, and the boy became a symbol in media narratives and congressional discussions.
Yet following an intense weeks-long investigation, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has confirmed the child’s true identity as Abdul Rahim Muhammad Hamden, nicknamed “Abboud.” He was located living with his biological mother after having left his stepmother’s home earlier in the summer. Identification was secured using biometric tools and recognition of the same shirt the boy wore in Aguilar’s footage.
GHF and its team—including American veterans—carried out a delicate extraction, moving the boy and his mother out of Gaza to a safe, undisclosed location. In a video-recorded exchange facilitated by GHF, Abboud expressed relief, saying, “Outside the Gaza Strip is nice.”
GHF labeled the original account a fabrication, saying it endangered the child by drawing widespread attention to his identity. Aguilar’s misleading story, GHF stresses, fueled a narrative that posed a real threat to Abboud’s safety.
The organization is urging media outlets and officials to retract earlier reports and to underscore the importance of verifying sensitive claims before amplifying them publicly.