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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element" dir="ltr"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/unprecedented-brutality-family-palestinian-mangled-bulldozer-condemn-israel">https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/unprecedented-brutality-family-palestinian-mangled-bulldozer-condemn-israel</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">'Unprecedented brutality': Family of
Palestinian mangled by bulldozer condemn Israel</h1>
<div class="credits reader-credits">By Tareq Hajjaj in Khan
Yunus, besieged Gaza Strip</div>
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<div class="reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr"
style="text-align: left;">February 24, 2020<br>
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dir="ltr">
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<article data-history-node-id="160006" role="article">
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<p>Belal al-Naem was appalled when he saw the footage:
an Israeli bulldozer dragging, mutilating and dangling
a Palestinian’s corpse in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Then he found out it was his brother’s body.</p>
<p>“I lived the shock twice, first before I knew that he
is my brother, and the other when I knew that was
him,” he told Middle East Eye.</p>
<p>Belal’s brother, Mohammed, was shot and killed by
Israeli fire on Sunday in Abasan al-Kabira, east of
Khan Younis.</p>
<p>The <a
href="https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1231446477941202946"
target="_blank">Israeli military claimed</a> he and
another Palestinian were attempting to place an
explosive device on the frontier between the besieged
enclave and Israel.</p>
<p>Then a military bulldozer, accompanied by a tank,
moved in to retrieve the body, and its attempts were
caught on camera.</p>
<p>Footage of the vehicle dragging the corpse quickly
went viral.</p>
<p>“I could not stand the cruelty in it, there was a
human being cut into pieces again and again. My heart
could not stand the scene, I prayed for him and
stepped away,” Belal said, describing it as
“unprecedented brutality”.</p>
<p>“This is not a way for a human to die, and it
happened while the whole world is watching,” he added.</p>
<p>“Our family saw this, and it will never be lost from
our minds.”</p>
<h3>'Who will raise his son?'</h3>
<p>Refuting Israel’s claims, Mohammed’s family says he
was nowhere near the boundary fence and instead in an
area that has long been used for peaceful protests.</p>
<p>His grieving mother described the 27-year-old
engineer as a devoted father to his 10-month-old
daughter.</p>
<p>“He worked any decent opportunity he got. He was
always chasing a living for his family, and would
please us all with his kindness and support. No day
would pass without him checking in,” Mohammed’s mother
Um Hussein told MEE, weeping.</p>
<p>“As he was leaving yesterday he was holding his son,
smiling at me and waving at the door, saying he will
come tomorrow to pick us up,” she added.</p>
<p>“Who is going to raise his son now?”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>'I felt every blow on my son's body. They were in
my heart, I felt the pain as if I was him. I will
never forget how Israel killed my son'</p>
<p><em>- Um Hussein, mother</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Watching the video was traumatic for his mother.</p>
<p>“I felt every blow on my son's body. They were in my
heart, I felt the pain as if I was him. I will never
forget how Israel killed my son,” she said.</p>
<p>Mohammed’s family confirmed that he was a fighter
with Islamic Jihad, an armed Palestinian resistance
faction. His death was followed by a barrage of
rockets fired from Gaza into Israel, and Israeli air
strikes on Islamic Jihad targets in the enclave and
Syria.</p>
<p>Despite his affiliation, Mohammed’s family insist his
motivations for being close to the boundary were
peaceful.</p>
<p>“He would wake up early, go to the mosque for Fajr
[dawn] prayers and walk in the morning near the
frontier. He loved looking over the lands he
protected,” his wife Um Hamza said.</p>
<p>Holding their child, his wife said she could not
watch the video as his family had told her how brutal
it is.</p>
<p>“I won’t watch him being cut apart, I wish this video
would disappear,” she said.</p>
<h3>Aborted rescue</h3>
<p>Moataz al-Najar, 23, was the first to spot Mohammed’s
lifeless body, at 6am. He called some of his friends
and relatives, and together they tried to retrieve
him.</p>
<p>“I tried to get close to him to rescue him, but
Israeli soldiers kept shooting randomly,” Najar told
MEE.</p>
<p>After two hours Najar was able to get close to
Mohammed, who was lying still and not breathing.</p>
<p>“He was dead and his face was burned, his intestines
were spilling out of his body. Me and my cousin Ahmed
tried to drag him away but the bulldozer assaulted
us,” he recalled.</p>
<p>“I yelled at the driver that the man is dead, but he
kept attacking,” Najar added, lying in a hospital bed
in Khan Younis.</p>
<p>“The bulldozer drove at us faster and faster, and
there was relentless shooting. The bulldozer hit me
and I felt like I’d lost my leg, then I was forced to
leave everything behind and escape.”</p>
<figure role="group">
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<p><img alt=""
src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/img_8629-01.jpg"
title="Moataz al-Najar recovering in hospital in
Khan Yunus (MEE/Walled Mosleh)"
moz-do-not-send="true" width="4000"
height="2667"></p>
<figcaption>Moataz al-Najar recovering in hospital
in Khan Yunus (MEE/Walled Mosleh)</figcaption></div>
</figure>
<p>According to Najar, the incident took place nearly
350 metres inside the Gaza Strip, and neither he nor
Mohammed crossed the Israeli fence.</p>
<p>Israel still holds Mohammed’s corpse.</p>
<p>“They must return his body, I want to say goodbye to
him,” Um Hamza said.</p>
<p>“His death is honourable, he is a martyr and
protected his nation. I expected him to die someday,
but not as savagely as they say.”</p>
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