Siege Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Israel-Palestine Timeline

Mahmoud Hasan Awadallah

May 21, 2019May 22, 2019 contact@ifamericansknew.org

May 21, 2019: Mahmoud Hasan Awadallah, 22, drowned to death near the shore of Samos Island in Greece after trying to escape from the impoverished and besieged Gaza Strip via Turkey.

The Greek Coastguard announced that they had recovered the corpse of Mahmoud, a Palestinian immigrant who went missing 17 days ago. He drowned after trying to immigrate to Greece from Turkey, without documents.

His family said they lost contact with him nearly 17 days ago, after he left Turkey in an attempt to reach Greece.

Two weeks ago, another Palestinian, identified as Mohammad Bahissy, from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, died under similar circumstances near the Turkish coast.

Mahmoud was from the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Aisha Lulu

May 19, 2019May 22, 2019 contact@ifamericansknew.org

May 19, 2019: Aisha Lulu, 5, died soon after enduring a brain surgery in Jerusalem alone because her parents were denied entry permits.

Aisha, a 5-year old Palestinian child from Gaza, was finally allowed permission to travel to Jerusalem for a complicated brain surgery, but was forced to travel alone when Israeli authorities denied her parents permission to accompany her. ٍShe suffered from a brain tumor and died soon after the surgery.

According to the Palestinian Minister of Health Mai Alkaila, Aisha Lulu, 5 years old, died after returning to Gaza from surgery in Jerusalem, and a harrowing journey through numerous Israeli checkpoints that she had to endure alone.

Alkaila stated, “How can a little child travel alone through Israeli checkpoints without being escorted by her mother, father or brother to provide her with affection and psychological support during treatment?”

According to the Palestinian Wafa News Agency, none of Lulu’s family members were allowed by Israel to be on her side in hospital as applications by her family members to accompany her to Jerusalem for her complicated brain surgery were denied.

She had to travel with a woman, who wasn’t her mother or even related to her, and was allowed by Israel to accompany her.

In a press statement, Alkaila added, “Aisha had to fight her disease alone, in a blatant disregard to international agreements, covenants and treaties on human rights, children’s rights, the right to health and access to health services in a safe manner,.”

According to Wafa, Aisha suffered psychologically throughout the entire ordeal, and was seen crying and calling for her mother loudly to be beside her in the hospital.

Alkaila called on the international community to intervene, and to demand that Israel allow parents to accompany Palestinian children who are forced to leave the Gaza Strip for surgery.

Due to the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza since 2007, hundreds of Palestinian patients have died from being denied proper medical treatment. The hospitals in Gaza remain severely under-equipped, and sick Palestinians must travel to Israel or abroad because of the lack of treatment inside Gaza.

According to Wafa, last month, the World Health Organization said out of 2,004 patient applications submitted in March for an Israeli permit to cross Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel for health care outside the besieged Gaza Strip, only 1,293 (65%) of the total were approved, and 74 patient applications were denied permission, including four children under the age of 18 years.

Aisha was from al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. Source: IMEMC

Mohannad Amin al-Baz

April 23, 2019April 24, 2019 contact@ifamericansknew.org

April 23, 2019: Mohannad Amin al-Baz, 13, was killed in an “accidental explosion” in central Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Health Ministry identified the child as Mohannad Amin al-Baz, 13 years of age.

There has been no detailed information regarding the child’s death, but the short statement by the just said he was accidentally killed in his home in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip.

However, the Quds News Network, the child was accidentally killed when an explosive charge detonated while he was apparently playing with it.

Mohannad was from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Abdul-Hamid al-Aker

February 10, 2019April 11, 2023 contact@ifamericansknew.org

February 10, 2019: Abdul-Hamid al-Aker, 39, was killed along with one other, and nine others were injured, in a siege-busting trade tunnel on the border with Egypt, in Rafah, in the southern part of the coastal region.

Eyad al-Bozom, the media spokesperson of the Interior Ministry in Gaza, said volunteers and rescue teams located the corpse of a police officer, identified as Abdul-Hamid al-Aker, 39, in addition to Sobhi Abu Qershein, 28.

He added that rescue teams located the corpses of the two Palestinians after hours of search and rescue operations in the border tunnel and stated that the two suffocated due to toxic gas inhalation while trying to rescue Palestinians who were trapped in the tunnel.

At least nine Palestinians, including two rescue workers, were injured in the same incident.

Although some reports speculated that the Egyptian army gassed or detonated the border tunnel, the cause of this fatal incident remains unknown, especially since dozens of Palestinians have been killed, and hundreds were injured, in tunnel accidents when the tunnels collapsed on them, or when they suffocated in the tunnels, or by accidental electrocution.

Al-Bozom did not make any statement accusing Egypt of the incident, but only reported on the death and the verified circumstances. IMEMCSource:

Malak Rabah Abu Jazar

October 23, 2018October 27, 2018 contact@ifamericansknew.org

October 23, 2018: Malak Rabah Abu Jazar, 4, drowned to death when a boat filled with immigrants capsized off the coast of Bodrum resort town, northwest of Turkey, where she and her parents were trying to flee the conditions in Gaza.

The Turkish Coast Guard has confirmed that the boat capsized near Bodrum, leading to the death of two children.

One of the slain children, identified as Malak Rabah Abu Jazar, only four years of age, is from Rafah city, while several members of her family were injured in the incident.

A day after her death, her cousin, Ehab ‘Aaed Abu Jazar, 4, died at a hospital in Turkey, despite the efforts to save his life, he had excessive amount on water in his lungs.

A second child, a seven-year-old girl, was also killed in the incident.

The Daily Sabah Newspaper said two children were killed, and eighteen migrants were rescued when the boat, “carrying illegal migrants sank off the Coast of Bodrum, a resort town in southwestern Turkey located near the Greek island of Kos.”

The capsized boat was carrying 34 migrants from various nationalities that were still being verified at the time of this report, while fourteen of them managed to safely swim to the shore.

The migrants boarded the 9-meter-long fiber glass boat just minutes before it started sinking off the beach of Gümbet beach in Bodrum.

The Daily Sabah said locals heard the screams of the migrants and called the police, before Coastal Guards rushed to the area and initiated a rescue campaign.

In a Facebook post, the Abu Jazar family has confirmed Malak’s death, and said that Rabah Abul-Ghani Abu Jazar, and Aa’ed Abdullah Abu Jazar, along with their families, were rescued.

The Turkish coastal police launched an investigation and reportedly detained four suspects, whose identities were not revealed, but are believed to be smugglers helping the migrants sneak out of Turkey and into Greece, Daily Sabah has reported.

It added that the capsized boat had the capacity to carry ten persons, but was instead carrying 34.

The Turkish coastguard is searching for potential survivors, especially since the accounts about the number of people aboard the boat are conflicting.

The Daily Sabah said the fourteen migrants from Somalia, and Palestine, were located in the area, and told the police that they were supposed to be on board the capsized boats, but couldn’t do so because it was already overcrowded before it sailed.

Malak was from Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Mohammad Fayez Abu Sadeq

September 24, 2018September 25, 2018 contact@ifamericansknew.org

September 24, 2018: Mohammad Fayez Salim Abu Sadeq, 21, was killed by Israeli soldiers killed during a protest in northern Gaza, as many boats attempted to sail and challenge the ongoing Israeli siege on the coastal region. 90 Palestinians were wounded, several of them shot with live bullets fired by the Israeli military.

Media sources in Gaza said the soldiers fired a barrage of live fire, in addition to high-velocity gas bombs and rubber-coated steel bullets.

The Health Ministry in Gaza has confirmed that the soldiers killed Mohammad Fayez Salim Abu Sadeq, 21, and injured ninety other Palestinians, including ten who were shot with live fire.

It added that the soldiers also fired a gas bomb directly at a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance, while trying to reach some of the wounded protesters.

Furthermore, the soldiers shot Monser Sawwaf, a cameraman working of the Anadolu Turkish News Agency, with a gas bomb in his leg, while live rounds also struck his camera and equipment.

It is worth mentioning that, using slingshots, Palestinian protesters managed to down an Israeli drone while firing gas bombs at them.

The soldiers also fired many gas bombs and live rounds at the boats, trying to break the illegal siege on Gaza.

The attack on the floating protest followed a week of violence by Israeli soldiers against non-violent Palestinian demonstrators.

On Sunday evening, the soldiers killed a young Palestinian man, identified as Emad Daoud Eshteiwi, 21, and injured at least 20 others, including one medic, along the eastern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, September 19, 2018, the soldiers killed a Palestinian child, identified as Mo’men Ibrahim Abu Eyada, 15, after shooting him in the head while he was participating in a non-violent protest east of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, September 18, 2018, the soldiers killed four Palestinians, at dawn and during evening hours, east of Khan Younis, and near Beit Hanoun (Erez) Terminal in northern Gaza, and injured dozens of residents with live fire, in addition firing many gas bombs and concussion grenades causing many to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.

The slain Palestinians have been identified as Ahmad Mohammad Mohsin Omar, 20, from the al-Shati’ refugee camp, Mohammad Ahmad Abu Naji, 34, from Jabalia, in addition to Naji Jamil Abu ‘Aassi, 18, and Ala’ Ziad Abu ‘Aassi, 21, from Khan Younis.

On the same day, the soldiers killed Mohammad Yousef Sha’ban Oleyyan, 26, in occupied East Jerusalem, in addition to Mohammad Zaghloul al-Khatib, 24, after assaulting him in his home in Beit Rima town, northwest of Ramallah, in central West Bank.

Over 180 Palestinians have been killed and thousands others injured since the outbreak of the Gaza border protests, on March 30. The protests call for ending the 12-year-long Israeli blockade of Gaza and for the right of return of the refugees.

Mohammad was from the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Masoud Abdul Hai Abu Saqer

June 19, 2018June 25, 2018 contact@ifamericansknew.org

June 19, 2018: Masoud Abdul Hai Abu Saqer, 49, died at Erez/Beit Hanoun crossing between Gaza and Israel, while on his way to get treatment at an East Jerusalem hospital, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights said.

Abu Saqer had applied three times, in the past, for an Israeli army permit to leave Gaza for cancer treatment , but his application was continuously denied.

On the fourth attempt, Abu Saqer was summoned for an interview at Erez checkpoint, by the Israel security service, before it was decided whether or not to grant him a permit, but he died at the crossing during the interview, according to his son, Saed.

Abu Saqer was diagnosed with cancer in the his right lung as of December 2017, and has been trying ever since to reach a hospital in East Jerusalem for treatment, but without success.

Al Mezan said that at the fourth time, Abu Saqer was summoned for an interview at Erez checkpoint by the Israel security service before decided whether to grant or deny him a permit but he died at the crossing during the interview, according to his son, Saed.

Seven Gaza patients, including three women, have reportedly died, since the start of this year, after their applications for an Israeli permit to leave the besieged Gaza Strip were either denied or delayed.

Masoud was from the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Mohammad Jihad Debabeche

May 6, 2018May 11, 2018 contact@ifamericansknew.org

May 6, 2018: Mohammad Jihad Debabeche, 41, died after the Israeli authorities refused to allow him to leave the Gaza Strip for treatment, according to Palestinian medical sources.

The National Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza issued a statement revealing that Mohammad Jihad Debabeche, 41, suffered from cancer and urgently needed treatment in an Israeli hospital, but the army refused to allow him to leave the besieged Gaza Strip.

Mohammad was the brother of Bassel Jihad Debabeche, who was killed along with nine other Palestinians, on December 27, 2008, when the Israeli army fired missiles into Palestinian security headquarters in Gaza.

The Palestinians who were killed along with Bassel in 2008 were identified as Hasan Ibrahim Abu Shanab, Mohammad al-Adgham, Husam Siyam, Ali Awad, Rafat Shaniya, Mahmoud al-Khalidi, Sha’lan Abdul-Salam, Soheib Abdul’al and Yousef Abdul’al.

Their bodies were severely mutilated due to the Israeli bombardment of the security headquarters on the first day of “Operation Cast Lead” three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which at least 1417 Palestinians were killed, Including 926 civilians, among the 111 women and 412, children.

13 Israelis were also killed in that invasion; including eight soldiers, five of whom were killed by friendly fire.

Another of Mohammad’s brothers, Nidal Jihad Debabeche, was killed on April 2, 1995, in an explosion in Sheikh Radwan, also leading to the death of several fighters of Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

Mohammad was from Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza city, in the central part of the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Azzam Hilal Oweida

April 28, 2018August 23, 2021 contact@ifamericansknew.org

April 28, 2018: Azzam Hilal Oweida, 14, was killed by Israeli forces east of Gaza City, who shot him in the head during the fifth Friday of protests for the ‘Great March of Return’.

Azzam was one of four Palestinians killed by Israeli snipers during protests on April 27^th . The snipers fired live ammunition indiscriminately at the unarmed crowds of protesters, according to eyewitnesses.

Azzam died in the pre-dawn hours Saturday morning, of a serious gunshot wound received Friday when an Israeli army sharpshooter shot him with a live round in the head, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that Israeli soldiers killed four young Palestinians, including Azzam, a 14-year old child, on April 27^th, and injured more than 995, including at least 178 who were shot with live fire.

In addition to Azzam, the the soldiers also killed Abdul-Salam Bakr, 29, from Khuza’a town, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, Mohammad Amin Al-Moqyd, 21, from Gaza City, and Khalil Na’im Atallah, 22, also from Gaza City.

According to Ashraf al-Qidra of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 18 medics and medical personnel were among those wounded on Friday.

Al-Qidra added that Israeli forces specifically targeted medical service points twice with an unidentified gas east of the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. This appeared to be a new type of gas that caused those who inhaled it to suffer from severe convulsions. A number of these victims had to be hospitalized.

175 of the wounded Palestinians were injured in Northern Gaza, 251 in Gaza city area, 200 in Central Gaza, 146 in Khan Younis and 183 in Rafah.

On Friday night, Israeli war jets fired missiles at a site that they claimed was run by a Palestinian resistance group, west of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

The army also fired missiles at two Palestinian fishing boats in Gaza port. Media sources in Gaza said the boats are parts of preparations for welcoming an upcoming flotilla to challenge the illegal Israeli siege on Gaza.

The ongoing ‘Great Return March’ protests which started on Palestinian Land Day (March 30th) are meant to bring attention to the fact that millions of Palestinians are imprisoned in the Gaza Strip, unable to return to their homes in what is now Israel. Palestinians make up the largest refugee population on earth.

Israeli troops again opened fire on the unarmed protesters, as they have done each Friday since the protests began on March 30th.

Since March 30th, Israeli forces have killed 44 Palestinian protesters, and wounded more than five thousand.

An international outcry against the continued shooting of civilian protesters has included political leaders, politicians, grassroots leaders and humanitarian organizations around the world. But this outcry has not reached the US, where politicians have been largely silent on the issue.

Irish and South African politicians have been leading the call for justice for Palestinians, calling the Israeli government an ‘apartheid state’ much like South Africa in the 1980s.

In response to Israel’s fifth straight week of attacking unarmed demonstrators at the border, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, issued a statement that, “The loss of life is deplorable, and the staggering number of injuries caused by live ammunition only confirms the sense that excessive force has been used against demonstrators – not once, not twice, but repeatedly.”

Azzam was from Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Source: IMEMC

Khalil Na’im Atallah

April 28, 2018May 17, 2018 contact@ifamericansknew.org

April 27, 2018: Khalil Na’im Atallah, 22, was killed by Israeli forces east of Gaza City, during the fifth Friday of protests for the ‘Great March of Return’.

Khalil was one of three young men and one child shot and killed by Israeli snipers on April 27^th . The snipers fired live ammunition indiscriminately at the unarmed crowds of protesters, according to eyewitnesses.

The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that Israeli soldiers killed four young Palestinians, including a 14-year old child, on April 27^th, and injured more than 995, including at least 178 who were shot with live fire.

In addition to Khalil, the the soldiers also killed Abdul-Salam Bakr, 29, from Khuza’a town, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and Mohammad Amin al-Moqyd, 21, from Gaza City.