It makes no difference to Mohammed Tabaza whether the air force commander, Major General Dan Halutz, lied or didn't lie to Israel's military correspondents. For the past month, Tabaza's son, Mahmoud, who is 14, has been fighting for his life. The boy's body was ripped open by dozens of metal fragments, some of which penetrated his internal organs and tore them apart. One of his legs was shattered and he was also wounded in the head.
It's not easy to look at the wounded boy, his body trembling, his face a pallid yellow, as he lies in bed, crying and begging for his father's help. His father says it's as though pieces of rice made of metal were hurled at the boy. An Israeli physician who showed x-rays of the boy to his colleagues at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, said they were convinced he was the victim of flying nails such as suicide bombers unleash when they blow themselves up.
Mahmoud Tabaza was wounded next to his house in the Nusseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip in the course of a targeted assassination mounted by the Israel Air Force. His brother, Abdul Halim, a 23-year-old economics student, was killed in the operation. Another two brothers, including 9-year-old Mustafa, were wounded. Their cousin, Ibrahim, was killed. At the end of the week, Israel rewarded the father of the family for killing his loved ones: After 30 years of working in Israel, he was deprived of his entry permit to the country.
On the evening of October 20, the family heard a loud explosion next to their house. Rushing outside, they saw a Peugeot van going up in flames after being struck by a missile. Then another missile landed, killing 10 residents of the camp, among them Dr. Zin a-Din Shahin, who had immediately gone out to help the victims. Dozens of civilians, including children, were wounded by many metal fragments that slammed into their bodies. Horrific scenes ensued. These details are important, because the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Air Force afterward claimed that not many civilians had been hit and that there were no exceptional wounds caused by metal nails.
Tikkun