Four brothers unable to walk unaided after being shot by Israeli snipers

Four brothers living in Al-Bureij Refugee Camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip are unable to walk unaided after being shot by Israeli snipers when they took part in the great March of Return protests, Anadolu has reported. Mohammed and his twin Ahmed, 29, and Bilal, 27, are relatively lucky; they can walk with crutches. Their other brother, Said, 19, has to use a wheelchair, having been shot in both legs.

Despite the shocking wounds caused by so-called “butterfly bullets” which explode on impact, the brothers still have hope for the future. Their injuries, they insist, will not prevent them from taking part in the protests against the siege of Gaza and the Israeli refusal to allow the Palestinian refugees to exercise their legitimate right to return to their land.

Said was shot on 30 March, the first day of the protests. He has undergone five operations and still has external fixators attached to both legs. His injuries meant that he was unable to sit his General Secondary School examinations, and he was marked as failed. “I lost one year of my life,” he explained, “but I will not surrender and will sit for the exam when I am better.”

READ: Israel to declare Gaza protest killings ‘operational mishaps’

The other three brothers were shot on 11 May. All have faced a number of operations for their injuries, with Ahmed alone having 14.

Mohammed is the only one of the brothers who is married; his daughter is just under two years old. He lives with his wife and daughter in a rented house for which he can no longer afford the rent, having been unable to work since being shot. His brothers live at home with their mother. None have any source of income and they are unlikely to be able to go back to making bricks due to the nature of the job.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, since the start of the Great March of Return protests the Israeli occupation forces have killed 156 men, women and children in the coastal enclave and wounded more than 17,000 others.