An 8-year-old boy reported to have been killed in Gaza by Israel Defense Forces has been found alive.
A report from Fox News said Abdul Rahim Muhammad Hamden, who goes by “Abboud,” was interviewed along with his mother recently before they were relocated from the Gaza Strip.
The Daily Wire reported that it also obtained evidence that a claim from former Gaza Humanitarian Foundation contractor Tony Aguilar was false. The claim had gone viral.
“We’re incredibly relieved that Abboud is alive and safe,” GHF representative Chapin Fay said. “That outcome is thanks to the heroic efforts of our team of American veterans, local Gazan staff, and humanitarians who worked quietly for weeks to find him and get him to safety. Their courage and determination saved this boy’s life.”
Remember ex-GHF contractor Tony Aguilar’s claim that he saw a little Gazan boy named “Amir” run into “a wall of bullets” and suffer “a shot to the torso, a shot to the leg, dead?”
Well it’s not true. “Amir” is alive and well.
My latest for @realdailywire: pic.twitter.com/OMxdNvHIOk
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 4, 2025
Fay said that after Aguilar made his claims in July, the boy’s life was at risk, because Hamas wanted to use his death as a propaganda tool.
“That publicity placed the child squarely in the crosshairs of Hamas, who have benefited greatly from Mr. Aguilar’s lies and the media amplifying them,” he said, according to the Times of Israel. “If the boy was proven alive, it would unravel their propaganda, expose Mr. Aguilar’s lies, and discredit a narrative that Hamas has used to stoke outrage and violence.”
Aguilar’s viral claim alleged that on May 28, the boy was shot dead by IDF forces near a Gaza aid station after a touching moment in which he had received food. The claim was made on multiple media outlets in July and August, as noted by the Daily Wire.
An August version of the story said the boy ran away into a “wall of bullets” and suffered “a shot to the torso, a shot to the leg, dead.”
The Daily Wire reported that the boy’s identity “was confirmed through biometrics, and he remained in possession of the shirt he wore in Aguilar’s viral video.”
Fay said media outlets that ran with a story before knowing whether it was true or false “owe [Abboud] — and the public — an apology and a retraction.”
Although the Daily Wire obtained video that indicated Aguilar’s story was wrong, he stood by it, even interrupting a Wednesday Senate Foreign Relations Committee shouting, “United States government is complicit in genocide.”
Although Aguilar, an Army veteran, has said he resigned from his post with GHF, the Daily Wire said, according to GHF documentation, he was fired.
“While this story ends happily, it could have ended in tragedy,” GHF Executive Chair Johnnie Moore said. “Too many people, including in the press and civil society, were quick to spread unverified claims without asking the most basic questions.
“When a child’s life is at stake, facts must matter more than headlines,” he added.
The boy said he has never been injured.
Fox News interviewed the boy and his mother, Najlaa.
“Outside the Gaza Strip is nice,” Abboud said, according to a translation.
His mother told Fox News, “My son and I suffered a lot. But we thank God. I thank everyone who helped me and stood by me.”
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