Progressive senators, Tucker Carlson pushed story that Israeli military had killed Abdul Rahim Muhammad Hamden
A Gazan boy alleged to have been killed by the Israeli military is alive and has been safely evacuated from Gaza with his mother, according to video footage and new reports—contradicting the allegations promoted by commentator Tucker Carlson and Senators Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.).
The eight-year-old boy, who was misidentified as “Amir” but whose real name is Abdul Rahim “Abood” Muhammad Hamden, appeared alongside his mother in a video interview with a translator asking questions provided by Fox News. The boy smiled as he talked about looking forward to his and his mother’s then-upcoming extraction from Gaza, saying, “Outside the Gaza Strip is nice,” according to a translation verified by the outlet. The boy and his mother are now in a secure, undisclosed location outside Gaza, according to Fox News.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) also confirmed in a Thursday announcement that the boy is “alive and safe” and condemned the false allegations. “We are overjoyed and deeply relieved that Abood is safe, and that this story ends in hope,” GHF executive chairman 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.”
Tony Aguilar, an ex-contractor for the GHF, made national headlines this summer when he claimed in several media appearances that the Israel Defense Forces had shot and killed Hamden in May, as the boy sought aid at a GHF site. Aguilar described the boy’s supposed last moments in vivid detail and circulated photographs of the boy, telling the YouTube channel “Dialogue Works” that the IDF fired a “shot to the torso” and “a shot to the leg,” leaving Hamden dead.
Tucker Carlson, a conservative-host-turned-vocal-critic-of-Israel, had Aguilar on his show in an interview released July 31. Carlson was “nodding solemnly” as Aguilar claimed Israel had killed the boy, Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) wrote in an X post Thursday.
Sanders and Van Hollen also pushed Aguilar’s story, even after the IDF and GHF denied the claims. In late July, Van Hollen met with Aguilar and released a recording of their conversation, while Sanders featured Aguilar’s testimony in a video titled “Former U.S. Special Ops: What I Saw in Gaza.”
The Washington Free Beacon reached out to the senators for comment following the Fox News report. Their offices have not responded by publication time.
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