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