By This is not the first time when Israeli forces will be instrumental to the death of innocent civilians from the unruly use tear gas firing. Ma’an News related an incident in 2016, that lead to the death of a 63 year old man. The report reads that “In 2016 , Muhammad Mustafa Habash, 63, from the Asira al-Shamaliya village in the northern West Bank district of Nablus, died of tear gas inhalation during clashes that broke out with Israeli forces at Qalandiya checkpoint in Ramallah,” Ma’an related.
History on a bad side repeated itself, yesterday, 7th of July, as the world lost an 18-month old baby to another Israeli military exigencies. According reports reaching in from Palestine, an 18-month-old Palestinian, Abdul Rahman Barghouti, “died on Friday, some two months after suffering from tear gas inhalation when Israeli forces shot tear gas at Palestinian homes in the village of Abud in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah.”
Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed the incident, regretting that the baby could not survive the tragedy despite efforts by medics towards his recovery. The Ministry stated that “18-month-old Abdul Rahman Barghouti, was transferred to Hadassah Hospital in West Jerusalem after suffering from tear gas inhalation in May, owing to the severity of his condition.” And that “all efforts to save his life failed,” as he gave up on Friday evening.
Ma’an recalled that “Barghouti was injured after clashes broke out across the occupied West Bank on May 19 in support of some 1,300 Palestinian prisoners who were undergoing a mass hunger strike to demand better treatment and conditions in Israeli prisons.” Explaining that “at the time, Israeli forces haphazardly shot tear gas at Palestinian homes, which caused many residents, including Barghouti, to suffer from tear gas inhalation.”
It is further reported that, “Israeli forces opened live ammunition on protesters, injuring several Palestinian youths in the lower part of their bodies,” adding that “Israeli soldiers had prevented Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances from reaching Barghouti’s home to treat him, and blocked the ambulances with Israeli army jeeps, forcing Palestinian medics to rush on foot to the infant to provide first aid.”
Correspondent: Olayiwola A. Ridwan