OPERATION CAST LEAD 27 DEC 2008-18 JAN 1009
Matar Abu Halimah 17
Killed 04-01-09
Shot by soldiers while he and his family were waving a white flag and driving on a tractor-drawn wagon to the hospital, after their house had been shelled with white phosphorous.
On 4 January 2009, white phosphorus shells struck the house of the Abu Halima family in Beit Lahiya (northern Gaza) following Israel’s ground invasion during Operation Cast Lead.
Four siblings, Shahd (1.5), Hamza (7), Zaid (10) and Abed al-Rahim (13) and their father were killed in the explosion and fire that ensued.
Another female relative (16) died from her injuries almost three months later in a hospital in Egypt.
Several other family members, including their mother, two other siblings, Ali (5) and Yousef (15), and a 3-year-old niece suffered white phosphorus burns.
The 3-year-old remains hospitalized in Egypt with life threatening third degree burns.
As family members attempted to evacuate the injured, they came under gunfire from Israeli soldiers killing two cousins aged 16 and 17, and wounding yet another sibling aged 17, as well as an adult female relative.
In total, eight members of the Abu Halima family were killed, including six children.
Killed 04-01-09
Shot by soldiers while he and his family were waving a white flag and driving on a tractor-drawn wagon to the hospital, after their house had been shelled with white phosphorous.
On 4 January 2009, white phosphorus shells struck the house of the Abu Halima family in Beit Lahiya (northern Gaza) following Israel’s ground invasion during Operation Cast Lead.
Four siblings, Shahd (1.5), Hamza (7), Zaid (10) and Abed al-Rahim (13) and their father were killed in the explosion and fire that ensued.
Another female relative (16) died from her injuries almost three months later in a hospital in Egypt.
Several other family members, including their mother, two other siblings, Ali (5) and Yousef (15), and a 3-year-old niece suffered white phosphorus burns.
The 3-year-old remains hospitalized in Egypt with life threatening third degree burns.
As family members attempted to evacuate the injured, they came under gunfire from Israeli soldiers killing two cousins aged 16 and 17, and wounding yet another sibling aged 17, as well as an adult female relative.
In total, eight members of the Abu Halima family were killed, including six children.
OPERATION CAST LEAD 27 DEC 2008-18 JAN 1009