Six Human Rights Groups to Israeli High Court: Stop the harm to the civilian population in Gaza

11 July 2006

Today, July 11, 2006, six human rights groups petitioned the Israeli High Court demanding that the crossings in Gaza be opened to allow for the steady and regular supply of fuel, food, medicine, and equipment, including spare parts needed to operate generators.

The groups - The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Hamoked: Center for Defence of the Individual, B'tselem, The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and Gisha - Center for the Legal Protection of Freedom of Movement also asked for an urgent hearing in order to prevent serious harm to the health of the civilian population, especially patients in hospital, and to prevent the breakdown of the water and sewage system in Gaza.

During the current military operation in the Gaza Strip the Israeli military has interrupted the supply of fuel to Gaza and kept Gaza's crossings mostly closed to supply of food and other humanitarian goods. The uninterrupted supply of fuel and equipment is necessary for the functioning of Gaza's health and sanitation systems, and Gaza requires a steady supply of food and medicine.

Since Gaza's power station was destroyed on June 28, there is an increased need for fuel to power the generators in Gaza and for spare parts to keep the generators running at such a high capacity. The closure of Karni Crossing has led to shortages in food at a time when, given the difficulty of obtaining electricity to prepare and refrigerate foodstuffs, Gaza requires increased shipments of dairy products, meat, flour, and other goods.

Without a steady supply of fuel and parts, hospitals cannot perform life-saving surgery and treatment plants cannot pump and treat sewage in Gaza. Gaza hospitals have reduced their activities to life-saving procedures. Since the bombing of the power plant, Gaza's water utility has been dumping 60,000 cubic meters of raw sewage into the sea each day, for lack of power and equipment to run the treatment plants, and there is concern that untreated sewage will pollute the aquifer or spill into the streets.

Because of the electricity shortages, stores in Gaza have stopped selling meat and dairy products. Trucks laden with food and medicine have been stuck at Karni Crossing, which has been closed since July 6, including 230 containers from international aid organizations.

Withholding fuel, food, and equipment from Gaza residents constitutes collective punishment, in violation of international law. The petition argues that Israel is not fulfilling its legal obligations to provide for the needs of the civilian population and to distinguish between military and civilian targets.

According to Faysal Shawa, a businessman and Gaza resident: "We have been thrown back to the way people lived 100 years ago ... We don't have water, we don't have milk for our kids."

According to Maher Najer, Deputy Director of Gaza's Water Company: "We face severe shortages in the electricity, fuel, and spare parts needed to operate Gaza's water and sewage systems. These shortages threaten to create a public health catastrophe."

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Open-Fire Policy

Israeli soldiers shoot and kill Palestinian teacher (57) trying to evacuate wounded man

On Thursday, 19 January 2023, at around 2:30 A.M., Israeli troops entered Jenin Refugee Camp. Local youths threw stones at them as soon as they arrived, and the Israeli military claims explosives were thrown as well. Some soldiers made their way into the camp, while others climbed onto the roof of a building. Several entered an apartment on the fifth floor of the building, ordered its occupants to go to another apartment, and then engaged in an exchange of fire with armed Palestinians who were hiding in an alley in the camp. At around 4:00 A.M., one of the Palestinian gunmen, Adham Jabarin (26), an Islamic Jihad military wing operative, went towards the nearby camp square. Soldiers who were in the building, about 150 meters away, shot and severely wounded him. Neighborhood resident Alaa Bawaqneh (34) heard young men calling for help and went outside to see what was happening. She saw Jabarin, whom she did not know, lying wounded near the eastern corner of her building. She managed to drag him about three meters towards her house and then her father, Jawwad Bawaqneh (57), came out and helped her drag him a few more meters to their doorway. All the while, the two heard gunfire close by. When they got to the doorway, a soldier fired two shots from the building the soldiers were hiding in, hitting the father in the upper body. He fell face down. The family managed to get the father into their inner courtyard, out of the soldiers’ firing range. A volunteer paramedic who was in the area arrived and, with Alaa’s help, drove Jawwad in the family’s car to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Shortly afterwards, Jabarin was also taken to hospital and he, too, was pronounced dead. The troops left the camp after arresting three residents, including one who lived in the building from which they fired. All three were released soon after. The IDF Spokesperson stated that “during activity in Jenin Refugee Camp, the forces fired at gunmen who fired massively at them, and hits were detected,” adding that one soldier was lightly injured and treated in hospital. stated that “during activity in Jenin Refugee Camp, the forces fired at gunmen who fired massively at them, and hits were detected,” adding that one soldier was lightly injured and treated in hospital. A sniper shot and killed an unarmed civilian who was trying to give a wounded man first aid. The victim posed a threat to no one, certainly not to the soldiers who were far away from him and well-protected. B’Tselem’s findings raise a strong suspicion that Bawaqneh was deliberately killed, without any justification. The IDF Spokesperson’s response and past experience clearly indicate that no one will be held to account for killing Bawaqneh – the sniper who fired the shot, the commanders who allowed it, the legal advisors who signed off on the orders the higher military command. B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi spoke with Jawwad Bawaqneh’s relatives and with eyewitnesses on 19 and 22 January 2023. Alaa Bawaqneh (34) said: On Thursday, 19 January 2023, at around 2:30 A.M., my sister and I were in our room when we heard the alarm the young guys usually sound to warn residents of a military raid. A few moments later, we heard gunfire and explosions start up in areas near the camp center. My father, Jawwad, called us all to gather in my parents’ bedroom because it’s the safest room in the house. Our windows have been hit by soldiers’ gunfire before. At around 4:00 A.M., we heard shouting outside. Young guys were calling out for first aid and an ambulance. We gathered a guy was hit near our house. Before that, I read on social media that the military told the Palestinian DCO ambulances and journalists were forbidden to move around the camp without coordinating with them. Despite the warnings, I couldn’t ignore the shouting outside. I felt a human and emotional obligation to help him. I went quickly went out towards the eastern corner of our building and found a young man I didn’t know there, lying on his back and unable to move. He was bleeding heavily and didn’t say anything. I pulled him by the arm and he groaned in pain. I told him I was pulling him to our doorway to get him out of the line of fire and to try and help him. I asked him to try to help me get there but he couldn’t move. I managed to drag him two or three meters, even though there was massive gunfire all around us. I focused on trying to help. Then my father came to help me. He was in his pajamas. He grabbed the guy by the other arm and together, we managed to drag him about eight meters to our front door. I heard live fire closer to us, and suddenly saw my father falling slowly to the ground. He hit his head against the doorway and landed next to the wounded guy. I was in shock. Horrified. Those were terrifying moments. My mother, brothers and I pulled my father into our inner courtyard. I saw bullet wounds in his upper body. Then a young guy in a paramedic’s uniform came and helped us get my father into our car. I drove quickly to Ibn Sina Hospital. I didn’t care about the shooting, I just wanted to get my father to hospital quickly. I reached the trauma unit and the doctors there tried to save him, but he passed away. Volunteer paramedic S.M. said: At a round 2:30 A.M., I was at home in the western part of the camp. I was woken by the alarm warning of an army raid. I immediately iput on the al-Ighathah al-Tibiyeh (Palestinian Medical Aid Association) vest, took the first aid kit and headed towards the camp center. At around 3:30, I was at the center with friends and other volunteers, giving first aid to a young guy who was shot by soldiers. Then the guys took him to hospital. I heard people shouting there was an injured guy nearby who needed first aid and an ambulance. I headed towards the sound of the shouting alone, through alleyways. I knew there were Israeli snipers on the rooftops and saw on social media that the army was forbidding ambulances and journalists from moving around. When I reached the injured guy, I found Jawwad Bawaqneh and his daughter there, trying to drag him to their doorway. Just as I was in front of their home, I saw Jawwad shot and fall slowly, face down, at his doorway. I reached them and, with the help of his family, we got Jawwad into the courtyard. The wounded guy, Adham Taha (Jabarin), was lying motionless in the doorway, but I couldn’t check him because of the sniper fire. Jawwad was bleeding heavily from the chest and abdomen. I tried pressing with pads on the wounds to stop the bleeding, but it didn’t help. We put him in the family car right away. His daughter Alaa drove, and I went with them to Ibn Sina Hospital nearby. We got there within a few minutes and the doctors tried to save Jawwad’s life, but he died of the fatal injuries to his chest and abdomen. While we were in the trauma unit, they also brought in the young guy, Adham, who arrived lifeless. A resident of one of the apartments from which the soldiers fired said: At first, six soldiers came in. One of them signaled to us not to move. Another turned off the lights in the living room. I heard a soldier break the lamp above the front door to the building, outside. Another soldier brought in a stand about one meter high. He moved the dining table that’s in the kitchen, which is connected to the living room. One of the soldiers fixed a long rifle to the stand. The soldiers went into all the rooms and checked them. A few minutes later, one of them ordered us to go from the living room to another room. We went into that room, and two soldiers who had flashlights on their helmets stood guard at the door. We heard shots fired from the living room, which overlooks the main square of the camp. Then another soldier arrived. I think it was the commanding officer. He spoke in Hebrew to the two soldiers. I know abit of Hebrew, and I understood he was telling them to move us to another apartment in the building, which they did. He continued: At around 5:00 A.M., the gunfire stopped and we couldn’t hear the soldiers moving around anymore. We went back to the apartment and found it almost destroyed. The soldiers took the mattress out of the bedroom and used it as a shield. They knocked everything the kitchen counter. We also found holes in the curtains. While we were cleaning up I found the casing of of the bullet the soldiers shot at the young men. They didn’t leave behind any other casings than the one I found. It was a difficult, frightening experience for us and for the neighbors.

29 March 2023

הפרמדיק המתנדב סאג'ד מוזהר, בן 17. התמונה באדיבות המשפחה

Open-Fire Policy

Expendable lives: Four Palestinians shot to death with no justification

B’Tselem’s investigation into four killings since the beginning of March 2019 clearly shows the lethal fire was completely unjustified: 1. The killing of Muhammad Shahin, 23, who was watching clashes between stone-throwers and security forces in the town of Salfit On Tuesday afternoon, 12 March 2019, at about 3:00 P.M., Israeli soldiers and Border Police officers entered the town of Salfit, which lies southwest of Nablus. About 40 Palestinian youths were throwing stones at some 10 members of the security, forces who were hiding behind trash cans about 100 meters away. The security forces threw stun grenades and fired teargas canisters, rubber-coated metal bullets and live rounds at the stone-throwers. Three young men were injured by “rubber” bullets and another was wounded in the hand by a live bullet. Muhammad Shahin was watching the clashes. An eyewitness said a friend had asked him to join the stone throwing, but Shahin refused, saying: “No. I always get hit even though I don’t do anything”. He was standing about 100 meters away from the security forces, and about 20 meters away from the stone-throwers, who were between him and the forces. At around 4:30 PM, the security forces fired a single live bullet, killing Shahin. Click here for more details 2. The killing of Ahmad Manasrah, 22, who was helping a family whose car got stuck near a checkpoint On Wednesday evening, 20 March 2019, at around 9:00 P.M., the four members of the Ghayadah family - Maysaa, ‘Alaa, and their two daughters, aged 5 and 8 - were making their way home from the village of Irtas to Nahhalin, west of Bethlehem. When they arrived at the Nashash/Efrat North checkpoint, ‘Alaa Ghayadah stopped the car because of a mechanical issue. The checkpoint was open and unstaffed, but there were soldiers in an observation tower about 50 meters away. As soon as Ghayadah got out of the car, the soldiers at the observation tower shot him and wounded him in the abdomen. Maysaa Ghayadah got out of the car and cried for help. A passing car stopped and its passengers came to her aid. Three of them took ‘Alaa Ghayadah to the hospital. The fourth, Ahmad Manasrah, 22, from Wadi Fukin, tried to help her start the car, but the soldiers at the tower shot him as well, killing him. The military released several different accounts of the circumstances surrounding the incident, the last of which referred to an altercation between Palestinians that included stone throwing. Click here for more details 3. The killing of volunteer paramedic Sajed Muzhar, 17, who was trying to help a wounded man On Wednesday morning, 27 March 2019, at around 6:00 A.M., 40 to 50 soldiers and Border Police officers raided a-Duheisheh Refugee Camp, south of Bethlehem. Clashes erupted between the forces and local residents, who threw stones. After three locals were arrested, security forces began climbing up an alley, at the top of which military vehicles were waiting. About 10 youths chased them, continuing to throw stones. At that point, a member of the security forces shot one of the residents, M.J., 20, injuring him in the leg. Sajed Muzhar, a 17-year-old volunteer paramedic, was a few dozen meters behind him. As soon as M.J. was hurt, Muzhar ran over to him to provide medical care, wearing a medical crew vest. He was shot in the abdomen by a member of the security forces and taken to hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds. Click here for more details 4. The killing of Muhammad Dar 'Udwan, 24, from Kafr ‘Aqab, shot from behind while fleeing In the early hours of Wednesday, 2 April 2019, at around 3:30 A.M., more than 10 Israeli security forces vehicles entered the neighborhood of Kafr ‘Aqab in northern East Jerusalem. As the vehicles were making their way, several youths threw stones at them. The security forces drove into one of the alleys, and the youths, by then ten of them, continued throwing stones at them, as well as two improvised explosive devices. Another group of soldiers flanked the youths and fired at them, wounding two. The youths fled the area. One of them, Muhammad Dar ‘Udwan, 24, ran in the opposite direction. He ran past a group of soldiers, who fired at him. He continued to run under a barrage of bullets fired by the soldiers. Video footage shot by a local resident and footage captured by security cameras in a nearby building show Dar ‘Udwan being shot from behind while fleeing the soldiers. Click here for video and more details These four cases illustrate, once more, just how little value Israel’s security establishment places on the lives of Palestinians. None of the victims posed a threat to the lives of security personnel. Not one of these incidents should have ended in death. As B'Tselem has cautioned countless times in the past, these are not aberrations, or “bad apples”. These are incidents that occur as part of the routine actions of soldiers and police officers, pursuant to Israel’s dangerous, lethal open-fire policy. This is also the reason why any statements made by the IDF Spokesperson, or any other official, promising that a military police investigation into the incident has been or will be launched, should be taken with a grain of salt. Past experience has shown that these investigations are simply part of the whitewashing mechanism employed by the Military Advocate General Corps, which, no matter the outcome, have no impact on the open-fire policy and do nothing to deter security forces from using lethal fire against Palestinians without justification.

17 April 2019

מחמוד אל-חוואג'רי בחצר ביתו. צילום: ח'אלד אל-עזאייזה, בצלם, 27.1.19

Open-Fire Policy

Shoot and abandon: Israel barring wounded Gazan protesters' access to medical care

The Return Protests, which Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been holding near the fence with Israel to demand realization of the right of return and an end to the blockade on Gaza, began nearly a year ago and are still taking place. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by the end of January 2019, a total of 27,942 people had been injured in these demonstrations, 14,768 of whom were treated in hospitals in Gaza. More than 6,300 had been injured by live fire. According to B’Tselem’s figures, by the end of February 2019, 200 protesters had been killed, including 39 minors and two women. Most of the casualties – killed or injured – had posed no danger to Israeli security forces, who were deployed on the other side of the fence. Any healthcare system would be hard put to treat such an immense number of casualties. All the more so for the healthcare system in Gaza, which is on the verge of collapsing. Israel has kept Gaza under blockade for more than a decade, imposing restrictions on bringing in drugs, advanced medical equipment and spare parts for broken equipment, and barring doctors from travelling abroad for further training. The restriction on bringing drugs into Gaza has severely depleted local stores of vital drugs and equipment. Gaza also suffers from an intermittent supply of power, largely due to Israeli policy, and routine power cuts damage medical equipment. This has forced hospitals to cut services to a minimum, postponing non-urgent operations and releasing patients home earlier than medically advised. Given the failing healthcare system in Gaza, injured protesters cannot receive the medical attention they need and must seek vital treatment abroad. Yet soon after the protests began, Israel declared that, as a rule, it would not allow persons injured while participating in them to leave Gaza for medical treatment in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), Israel or Jordan. In April 2018, the NGOs Adalah and Al-Mezan Center petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice on behalf of two wounded men, since amputation would be likely with the care available in Gaza. In response, the state told the court the applications had been rejected, “given the policy of the Minister of Defense on the issue, whereby, as a rule, entry into Israel shall not be granted to persons injured while taking part in the violent public disturbances organized by Hamas, where the concrete medical circumstances were not deemed to warrant considering a departure from said rule, as the petitioners are not in a life-threatening condition.” The state said it had “also warned Gaza residents against participating in the demonstrations,” as if this was a justification for denying them access to adequate medical treatment. Despite the dire condition of both men, and the urgent treatment it called for, the justices refused to schedule an urgent hearing. The doctors had no choice but to amputate a leg on each patient. Only more than a week after the petition was filed, the High Court ordered the state to allow one of them, Yusef al-Kurunaz, 19, to travel to a hospital in Ramallah, where doctors were able to save his other leg. The justices did state, however, that this was an exceptional case and that they were not taking a stand on Israel’s overall policy toward injured protestors. In doing so, they effectively permitted the state to continue its policy of barring most injured protestors from receiving medical treatment. According to figures released by WHO, from the start of the demonstrations through January 2019, 493 applications to exit Gaza via Erez Crossing for medical treatment in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) or Israel had been submitted. Only 85 (17%) of the requests were approved, while 408 (83%) were rejected – directly or by delaying the issuance of a response. Given the extent of injuries in the protests and Gaza’s failing healthcare system, the number of requests filed is most likely much smaller than the actual number of persons in need, and primarily reflects the realization that applications stand a very low chance of approval. The proportion of approved requests by injured demonstrators is much lower than that of approved requests to leave Gaza for medical care under other circumstances. According to WHO figures for 2018, 25,808 people applied for a permit to leave Gaza for medical care in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and in Israel. Almost 40% of these requests were rejected – directly or by responding only after the scheduled appointment. Sixty percent of the requests were for care in hospitals in East Jerusalem, 23% for hospitals in the rest of the West Bank, and 17% for hospitals in Israel. Requests submitted Rejected No response Total number of requests directly or indirectly rejected Total 25,808 1,962 8,014 9,976 East Jerusalem 15,285 1,258 4,688 5,946 Rest of West Bank 4,773 523 1,812 2,335 Israel 5,750 181 1,514 1,695 Some of the persons whose requests were rejected or who received no response are trying to leave Gaza for medical care in Jordan or Egypt, via Rafah Crossing. Yet this solution is only relevant to some patients, as not all of them can receive proper treatment in these countries and some cannot endure the long, exhausting and perilous journey through Sinai. Since May 2018, Rafah Crossing has been regularly open five days a week, but Egyptian authorities restrict the number of persons allowed through. From May through December 2018, 1,510 persons in need of medical care crossed it – an average of 189 a month. This is a reality created by Israel. It is Israel that instituted an open-fire policy that allows live gunfire at protestors posing no danger, resulting in thousands of injuries – a policy it still refuses to change, a year in, although the horrific outcome has been commonly known for some time. It is Israel’s decade-long blockade on Gaza that has made it the major culprit in the collapse of the healthcare system there. It is Israel that is now denying the wounded passage, for just several dozen kilometers, through its territory to reach the treatment they desperately need. It follows that it is Israel’s duty to change this reality – to prohibit the use of live fire against persons posing no danger, to end the blockade on Gaza and to permit access to proper medical care. The following testimonies were given to B’Tselem field researchers in Gaza by individuals wounded in the demonstrations, who were then refused requests to leave Gaza via Erez Crossing to seek medical treatment: Hassan al-‘Issawi, 42, a husband and father of four from Khan Yunis Al-‘Issawi volunteered with the Red Crescent’s medical teams at the protests. He was hit in the leg by a live bullet in a demonstration held on 19 October 2018 east of Khan Yunis. The bullet shattered a bone and he underwent several operations in different Gaza hospitals. Nevertheless, he needs more surgery that cannot be performed within Gaza, and the doctors have referred him to al-Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem. Al-‘Issawi made an appointment there, but Israel rejected his requests to leave Gaza three times, and his doctors fear they will have to amputate his leg unless he receives the necessary treatment. Al-‘Issawi used to run projects for NGOs, but is currently unemployed as he cannot move around. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 20 February 2019, al-‘Issawi said: Since the protests began east of Khan Yunis, I volunteered with the Red Crescent to give first aid. On Friday, 19 October 2018, I went as usual to the demonstration east of Khan Yunis with other volunteers. I was wearing a first-aid volunteer uniform and a Health Ministry name tag. During the demonstration I was hit by a live bullet in the right leg, even though I was far from the fence. I was taken to the European Hospital and stayed there three days. The bone in my leg was shattered and the main nerve and tendon torn. They put a platinum implant in the leg. Then I was transferred to Nasser Hospital, where I stayed for 25 days. From there, I was transferred to other hospitals – Dar a-Salam and the state hospital in Khan Yunis – where I had three operations. While I was still in hospital, the doctors referred me for further treatment to al-Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem. I have to undergo another complicated procedure that can’t be performed in Gaza. I filled out the Palestinian Health Ministry’s form and scheduled an appointment at al-Mkassed for 12 November 2018. The day before, I got a text message saying my request was still under review. I couldn’t make the appointment and scheduled another one for 10 December 2018. Then my request was rejected. The third time, I set an appointment for 7 January 2019 and was rejected again. I have another appointment scheduled for 5 March and have filed a fourth request. I am now waiting for a reply, again. Meanwhile, I’ve also filed a request for treatment in Egypt, in case I can’t get to East Jerusalem, because my leg is in bad shape. There are complications from infections in the bone. It’s a dangerous condition and if I don’t get proper treatment, they may have to amputate. In the meantime, I’m having physiotherapy sessions with Doctors Without Borders. I go to their clinic every two days. They also provide transport to and from the clinic, because I can’t drive my car. I use crutches and only leave home to go for treatment. Since the injury, my life has been on hold. I used to do weightlifting at a sports club. We live on the fourth floor, with no elevator, so I had to move out of the house, leaving my wife and kids, and go to my mother, who lives on the first floor. It’s easier to go to hospital and treatments from there. Sometimes I spend one day a week at home, with my wife and kids. I’m stressed all the time and it’s had a bad effect on my relationships with my family. Since the injury, I also haven’t worked. I used to run projects for NGOs, but my career is over. I spend most of my time on social media and undergoing treatments. * Update: Al-‘Issawi’s fourth request to leave Gaza via Erez Crossing for medical treatment was also denied. Muhammad Saleh, 12, from Jabalya Refugee Camp Muhammad Saleh was wounded in his right leg by a live bullet on 5 October 2018, at a protest held east of Jabalya Refugee Camp. He was taken to the Indonesian Hospital, where he underwent surgery twice and stayed until 18 October 2018. During his time in hospital and after he was sent home, his parents submitted three requests for a permit to leave Gaza via Erez Crossing, so he could undergo surgery at al-Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem. Two of the requests were denied. The third time, they were asked to find someone other than his mother to go with him. The family is now waiting for al-Makassed to schedule a new appointment so they can file a new request. Saleh can currently walk only with the help of crutches. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 21 February 2019, Saleh described the injury and his life since that day: On Friday, 5 October 2018, I took part in a protest east of Jabalya R.C. I got very close to the fence and was hit in the right leg by a live bullet. At first, I felt nothing, but then I looked down and saw that my leg was bleeding badly. I blacked out. The paramedics carried me to an ambulance that took me to the Indonesian Hospital. My leg kept bleeding in the ambulance and I felt like there were electric shocks going through it. I was taken into an operating room immediately and kept in intensive care for a few days. I stayed in hospital until 18 October 2018. I had two surgeries. After I was released, I went back to the hospital every few days because my temperature rose. After about a month, I started physiotherapy with Doctors Without Borders. Before the injury I loved playing soccer and riding my bike. I can’t do that now. When I see my friends playing soccer, my heart aches and I feel sorry for myself. I feel like crying but I hold the tears back. I spend most of my time at home, in bed. I can only walk with crutches. I missed school during the first half of grade 7. The principal gave me permission to attend only twice a week, because it’s hard for me to get there every day. My brother Jihad, 30, carries me on his back a kilometer or more to school, because we don’t have a car or money for a taxi. The principal said he’d switch classrooms so that my class studies on the second floor and not on the third, to make it easier for me to reach. My friends help me with homework and carry my bag. My grades used to be excellent but now I’m down to C’s and D’s, because I miss a lot of lessons. Since the injury I’ve been sad. I cry a lot and yell sometimes. I’ve become very short-tempered and I’ve lost my appetite. Sometimes, I go along with my mom to visit relatives, but I don’t enjoy it. I want to play like the other kids, to run and play soccer. I really hope I can have the surgery that will make it possible for me to walk again without pain. Muhammad’s mother, Nuha Saleh, 45, a wife and mother of seven, told al-Kurd on 21 February what it is like living with her son’s injury: After Muhammad was wounded and had two operations, the doctors told us he had to have another operation that can’t be performed in Gaza, because it’s very difficult and complicated. They said the chances of such surgery succeeding were very slim. The Palestinian Health Ministry referred us to al-Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem, where they set Muhammad an appointment for 12 November 2018. A day before the appointment, I received a text saying that Muhammad’s request had been denied. We made a new appointment, for 18 December 2018, and were denied again. The third appointment was set for 18 February 2019, but the day before, we were told that my request to accompany him was still under review, so Muhammad had to file a new request. We’re now waiting for the hospital to schedule a new appointment so we can file another request for a permit to leave Gaza. Since the injury, Muhammad has been suffering a lot. He and I are both stressed, all the time. He shouts in pain all night and can’t sleep. I sit by his bedside all night and don’t sleep, either. For a while, he lost feeling in his leg altogether – so much so that he was severely burned by the stove because he didn’t feel he was right up against it. His brother Iyad noticed and yelled that his leg was on fire. We took him to a-Shifaa Hospital and he had to go there every day for 40 days to change bandages, in addition to suffering from the original injury. Mahmoud al-Hawajri, 19, single, from a-Nuseirat Refugee Camp Al-Hawajri was injured in both legs by live fire on 31 March 2018, the first day of the Return Protests, at a demonstration held east of al-Bureij R.C. He was treated at the ICU in Shuhadaa al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. After three days, he was transferred to a-Shifaa Hospital in Gaza City, were a platinum implant was surgically fitted in one of his legs. Since then, al-Hawajri has submitted six requests to leave Gaza through Erez Crossing for surgery in al-Makassed Hospital, East Jerusalem. All the requests were denied. His leg deteriorated and in April, the doctors were forced to amputate it. He filed yet again for a permit to leave to have a prosthetic fitted at al-Makassed, but was refused. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Khaled al-‘Azayzeh on 27 January 2019, al-Hawajri described the injury and his life today: On the first day of the Return Protests, I took part in activities east of al-Bureij R.C .after noon prayers. When I got there, I saw thousands of people near the border. At about 5:00 P.M., I was about fifty meters from the fence. I was just about to draw back when a sniper fired at me. The bullet went through my right calf to my left calf. I fell and blacked out from the pain. I woke up at ICU in Shuhadaa al-Aqsa Hospital, Deir al-Balah. Three days later, I was transferred to a-Shifaa Hospital in Gaza City. At a-Shifaa, the doctors wanted to amputate my right leg but I refused. They fitted me with a platinum implant. I stayed in intensive care for a week, and then I was transferred to the surgical ward, where I stayed for another month. During that month, I submitted several requests to receive further treatment at al-Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem, because the treatment I need isn’t available in Gaza. Israel denied all my requests. I suffered a lot from increasing pain. I started getting black gangrene spots on my right leg. Every day that passed brought the amputation of my right leg closer, because the veins were ruptured. After my last request was rejected, in April, the doctors at a-Shifaa decided to amputate. They were afraid the gangrene would spread to other parts of my body and kill me. When I woke up after surgery without my leg, I went into extreme shock. How did I lose my leg? What sort of life can I lead now? I haven’t been able to lead a normal life since then. I get around on crutches. I can’t play soccer or ride a motorbike any more. My only hobby now is pets: dogs, birds and bees. Most of the day, I keep myself busy in the yard with my pets. I prefer to hole up at home and try to forget about my injury, but can’t really do it. I very much hope to get to hospital in East Jerusalem to have a prosthetic leg fitted that will help me walk, even a bit. The last appointment I had scheduled at al-Makassed was for 7 June 2018, but my request for a permit was denied. In the meantime, I hobble around on one leg with crutches. It makes my left leg hurt a lot, because it carries the entire weight of my body. When it’s cold it especially hurts, and then I get really blue and very short-tempered and lose patience with everyone in my family. Muhammad Mas’ud, 18, from Jabalya Refugee Camp: Mas’ud was wounded in the chest by live fire at a demonstration held east of Jabalya R.C. on 13 April 2018. He was taken to a-Shifaa Hospital, where doctors found that the bullet, which had penetrated his chest and exited through the lungs, had caused hemorrhaging in the chest. Mas’ud underwent surgery and was referred to East Jerusalem for further treatment, but the two first requests he filed went unanswered and the third was denied. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 18 February 2019, Mas’ud related: When I was injured, the paramedics drove me in an ambulance to the Indonesian Hospital near Jabalya R.C. and gave me first aid on the way. When I got to the hospital, I blacked out. I was so badly injured that they transferred me to a-Shifaa Hospital in Gaza City, were I stayed in intensive care for a week. I was unconscious the whole time. I had an operation in which the doctors suctioned the blood clots from my chest, but there is still shrapnel in my lungs that the doctors said they can’t get out because its too dangerous. Since then, it’s felt as though something is moving around in my chest. The condition led to complications such as choking and bad pain in my chest. I can’t exert myself at all and can’t walk more than a few meters. I can’t lift anything with my left hand. When I feel like I’m choking, I use an inhaler. It’s especially hard to climb stairs, but we live on the second floor. In the shower, the water on my head makes me suffocate. I’m in grade 12 but have hardly attended school since the injury. I tried to go for almost a month, but stopped because the school is far away and it was hard to walk there with the bad pain. The doctors told me I have to learn to live with my condition and adjust. I tried to, for a long time, but it’s unbearable. I submitted a request for treatment in East Jerusalem and got an appointment for 10 November 2018. We wrote my father down as my escort. A day before the appointment, my mother got a text saying my request was still under review. I asked for a new referral and was scheduled a new appointment for 10 December 2018. My mother got the same message again. I asked for a third referral and was given an appointment for 21 January 2019. My mother got a text saying the request for my dad and me was denied.

14 March 2019