‘Utter carnage’: Outrage over images of children killed in Israel's Gaza strikes
Israel’s air strikes on Gaza on Tuesday received widespread backlash on social media, with hundreds of thousands reacting to Israel’s newest assault.
Israel killed hundreds of Palestinians, including over 100 children, in a wave of air strikes targeting five Gaza municipalities at around 3am local time.
Social media erupted with images of Israel’s bombings with images of children and babies killed during the attacks, bodies transported to hospitals and images of makeshift tents burning.
Many on social media from Gaza reported on X that “children died hungry before they could have their suhoor” and Israel’s “burning entire Gaza Palestinian families alive in their makeshift tents”.
One image, in particular, went viral and was shared by tens of thousands of people on social media. The image shows a small baby wearing a jumpsuit with rainbows on it, who was killed in the strikes.
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The image impacted thousands all over the world, with Dr Omar Suleiman saying the attack was “armed and paid for by the United States. Coward Muslim and Arab leaders watching and doing nothing”.
The baby in the picture was one of the first children who was killed in the attack, the overall number of which had surpassed 100 by the time of publication. Over 400 people were killed in total.
“As the world wakes up to the harrowing images of children slain by Israeli bombs across the entire Gaza Strip AGAIN, we cannot bear witness to global leaders JUST. DOING. NOTHING,” said UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese in a post on X.
As the world wakes up to the harrowing images of children slain by Israeli bombs across the entire Gaza Strip AGAIN, we cannot bear witness to global leaders JUST. DOING. NOTHING. This is an acceleration of the genocide that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people as… pic.twitter.com/WV8Tt0ehgM
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) March 18, 2025
The anger and frustration felt by many on social media was a reminder of the horrific images of babies and children that have been circulating on social media since Israel's onslaught on Gaza began in October 2023. Many called for swift action to be taken.
Some social media users shared videos of children killed in the strikes, such as a small girl whose father held her for the last time. Others asked what would anyone have done if a baby "murdered" by the “Zionist Israel” was a baby of one’s own.
The former first minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, also focused on the horrific images of children that are coming out of Gaza and said: “The least we can do is to bear witness to the crimes committed against the children.”
On X, UK Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn said, “Today, mothers and fathers in Gaza are mourning their children because governments across the world did not deem their lives worthy of protection.”
Doctors and journalists recount 'horrors'
An Australian doctor trainee from Gaza recounted how they ran out of painkillers and medicine and had to “amputate legs of at least seven girls without anaesthesia”.
“It is mostly women and children who were affected, children burned from head to toe, limbs and heads missing.”
“It was just mostly women and children burnt head to toe, limbs missing, heads missing.”
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) March 18, 2025
Dr Mohammed Mustafa, a medicine trainee who worked through the entire night amid Israeli bombardment in Gaza, detailed what he experienced. pic.twitter.com/eUX0LU1FKc
Many other doctors from Gaza took to social media and recounted what they had witnessed overnight, with one doctor saying, "Utter carnage... mostly children and women... I did 6 operations overnight, half on small children, and most will go on to die... utter carnage as usual, when you drop bombs on tents that's what happens.”
Journalist Anas al-Sharif also reported from al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza after the attacks, saying that most of the victims were children and women. “These bags are filled with the remains of children from all over Gaza City. The scene is beyond words,” he said.
Media criticised
Many people on social media also criticised the way mainstream media reported on the Israeli strikes in Gaza, such as the BBC, which in many reports referred to the Gaza health ministry as the “Hamas-run ministry”.
“The BBC is performing its usual role of protecting Israel,” one social media user said, adding that “as ever, the phrase 'Hamas-run' has to appear in headlines.”
It seems clear that a decision has been taken at senior levels of @BBCNews NOT to report prominently that Israel has shattered the so-called 'ceasefire'.
— Media Lens (@medialens) March 18, 2025
And, as ever, the phrase 'Hamas-run' has to appear in headlines.
The BBC is performing its usual role of protecting Israel. pic.twitter.com/1ak5btk3DI
Many online protested against this wording by the BBC because they saw it as an attempt to “try & cast doubt on the casualty figures, despite all the evidence showing they've been accurate”.
Some focused on the fact that Israel committed this massacre during the holy month of Ramadan while people slept and believed it was “disgraceful” to report the news in this way, casting doubt on the sources.
CBS News in the US also reported on the Israeli attacks on Gaza, saying, “Over 400 killed in Israeli strikes, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says.” Other major media organisations, such as MSN, also reported the death toll as sourced from the “Hamas-run health ministry”.
One social media user compiled screenshots from many different mainstream media organisations, focusing on the fact that each one of them termed the attack on Gaza as “an attack against Hamas” while referencing the ceasefire in an obscure way.
This is what the media manufacturing consent for genocide looks like.
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) March 18, 2025
“Israel continues GENOCIDE in Gaza with massive bombardment after repeated violations of ceasefire,” that’s your headline. pic.twitter.com/dUeN0ZmYMi
In the wave of air strikes targeting Gaza, Israel unilaterally ended its ceasefire with Hamas.
This is not the first violation of the ceasefire agreement, which aimed to release Israeli captives in return for an end to the war in Gaza.
Since the ceasefire went into force on 19 January and until Tuesday’s surprise attack, Israel killed 155 Palestinians in sporadic strikes and attacks on the enclave, Gaza’s government media office has said.
One of its recent strikes in northern Gaza killed nine people, including aid workers for a UK-based charity and journalists working with the group.
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