On Monday, January 20, 2025, in the early morning hours, Mahmoud Mohammad Marzouq Abu Muammar, a 13-year-old child, was killed and other civilians were injured by the detonation of an unexploded ordnance allegedly left behind by the Israeli military near the Sufa crossing east of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

Fityan Muammar turned to Facebook to express his grief over the loss of his 13-year-old son, attaching a photo of a black-haired young boy wearing a white and blue sweater and a pair of black sunglasses. Similarly, Samira Muammar shared her sadness over the death of her cousin and extended condolences to her uncle.

Mahmoud’s name was matched to the 8th “Palestinian Ministry of Health List of Fatalities in Gaza” list, which was released on March 24, 2025. His name had also been added to the list of casualties of January 20, 2025, by Shireen Monitor, a Palestinian organisation documenting the names of killed civilians.

According to multiple sources, a number of civilians were injured. However, none of the sources indicated the exact number of wounded casualties.

Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the attack to the Israeli military. Local sources referred to the attack as an explosion resulting from an explosive device left behind by the Israeli military. It was not possible to establish the type of attack that had preceded the presence of the unexploded device, as none of the sources mentioned any information in this regard.

Most sources placed the location of the incident in the east of Rafah and/or near the Sufa crossing.