A young Palestinian identified as Mohammad Nasser Shurrab, 20, from Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, died on Saturday, July 14, of wounds sustained from Israeli army gunfire during protests the day before along the Gaza border with Israel, according to medical sources. The European Hospital in Khan Younis announced that Shurrab succumbed to critical wounds he sustained hours earlier during the protests east of Khan Younis.
Shurrab is the second Palestinian who died from Israeli army gunfire during Friday’s protests. Othman Rami Hillis, 15, was also shot and killed at the protests east of Gaza. Another 30 Palestinian protestors were wounded during the day’s demonstrations.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that the deaths of Shurrab and Hillis bring the number of Palestinians killed by Israel since the start of the protests along the Gaza border on March 30 to 139. Over 14,000 have been injured, many remain in critical condition.
Palestinian paramedics and protesters evacuate Othman Hilles, 15, after he was mortally wounded by an Israeli sniper during the weekly frontier protests east of Gaza City, July 13, 2018. (Photo: Activestills)
According to the United Nations, more funds are needed for the medical rehabilitation of the thousands of Palestinians in Gaza who have been seriously injured since March 30 in the “Great March of Return” demonstrations along Israel’s perimeter fence. It is estimated that more than 1,400 Palestinians may suffer from some long-term disability due to the severity of the injuries incurred.
In the three months that started on March 30 and up until the end of June, a total of 15,501 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces, of whom 8,221, or over half, required hospitalization. Among the latter, 63 per cent were limb injuries, and nearly half (4,023) were the result of gunshot wounds. Some injuries have caused long-term disability: as of July 3, 53 had undergone lower limb amputations and eight have lost upper limbs. Eleven of the amputees are children. In addition, at least 10 Palestinians have been left paralyzed following spinal cord injuries.
In the majority of the additional cases, the full implications of the injury will only become clear in the future, depending on the quality of treatment and rehabilitation. As of June 26, over 1,400 people with severe injuries are at risk of long-term physical disability. These include 454 patients who suffered severe vascular injuries and 954 who sustained comminuted fractures, where the bone is splintered into more than two fragments and there is a higher risk of limb shortening and the need for assistive devices once fractures have healed.
