Thousands mourn as Palestinian double amputee killed by Israel

Al Jazeera
December 17, 2017

GAZA, dec 17: Two days before he was killed, Ibrahim Abu Thurayyah filmed a message to the Israeli army.

"I am passing a message to the Zionist occupation army," the 29-year-old double amputee, who lost both of his legs and a kidney in a 2008 Israeli air raid, said.

"This land is our land. We are not going to give up. America has to withdraw the declaration it made."

Before his death, the wheelchair-bound Abu Thurayyah had become a staple figure at protests along the Gaza Strip's border with Israel. 

Since December 6, he and his fellow demonstrators decried US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital. In photos, Abu Thurayyah can be seen climbing an electricity pole and sticking a Palestinian flag on it.

On December 15, Abu Thurayyah was fatally shot in the head by an Israeli sniper.

Another Palestinian, Yaser Sukkar, was killed the same day while protesting at Gaza's border. Two others were killed by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank, bringing the death toll since Trump's decision in the first week of December to eight Palestinians.

On Saturday, funerals were held for Abu Thurayyah and the three other Palestinians killed a day earlier.

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from Abu Thurayyah's funeral procession in Gaza, said thousands of people had taken to the streets to pay their respects for "unlikely figure of Palestinian resistance and defiance".

"He would often leave his wheelchair at home and attend rallies in protests around Gaza City just carrying his Palestinian flag," said Fisher.

"He was carrying that flag when he was shot by the Israelis."

Ashraf al-Qidra, the spokesman for Gaza's health ministry, said in a statement on Saturday that the Israeli army has been using snipers armed with explosive bullets and indiscriminately firing tear gas canisters.

"The army also uses gas bombs of unknown quality, which has led to the injury of dozens in the form of convulsions, vomiting, coughing and rapid heartbeat," he said.

Qidra also noted that Israeli forces have been using excessive violence against civilians and deliberately targeting paramedics, ambulances and news crews.

In April 2008, Abu Thurayyah was sitting with several friends in al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza when he was hit by the Israeli air raid that cost him his legs and kidney.Seven people were killed in the attack.

As the sole breadwinner for his 11-member family, which consisted of his two, sick parents, six sisters and three brothers, Abu Thurayyah, who was a fisherman before the Israeli air raid, was forced to find new work to pay the bills for their home in the camp.

He found work washing cars, earning 50-70 shekels ($14-20) a day. Sometimes he also sold vegetables in the market to make ends meet.

In an interview with Shehab News Agency a few years ago, Abu Thurayyah outlined his hopes and dreams for the future.

"I hope one day to own a house," he said.

"I wish that people in European and Arab countries will help me after listening to my story to get treatment abroad and prosthetic legs."

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News Network
February 17,2020

New Delhi, Feb 17: Four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder will be hanged on March 3 at 6 am a Delhi court said on Monday.

The Patiala House Court on Monday issued fresh death warrants against four convicts while hearing a petition by the state and Nirbhaya's parents.

Earlier, Delhi High Court on February 5 granted a week's time to the four convicts to avail of all legal remedies available to them and said that the convicts cannot be hanged separately since they were convicted for the same crime.

A Delhi Court had earlier issued a death warrant against the four convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh -- on January 7 and they were scheduled to be executed on January 22 at Tihar Jail. Later, the execution was suspended indefinitely by a Delhi court.

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Agencies
March 23,2020

Riyadh, Mar 23: King Salman on Sunday issued an order imposing a curfew across Saudi Arabia from Monday evening to control the spread of the COVID-19 disease.

A royal court statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the curfew will start at 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. every day for 21 days from the evening of 28 Rajab 1441 in the Hijri calendar, equivalent to March 23, 2020 in the Gregorian calendar.

King Salman's order followed an announcement by the Health Ministry of 119 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, raising the total number in the Kingdom to 511.

The order enjoins citizens and residents alike to stay in their homes during the curfew hours for their own safety.

The statement said the Ministry of Interior will undertake the necessary measures to implement the curfew, and all civil and military authorities are ordered to cooperate fully.

Exclusions

A subsequent statement issued by the Ministry of Interior and carried by SPA said those excluded from the curfew are workers from the following vital industries and government services:

• Food sector (points of sale) such as catering and supermarkets And poultry and vegetable shops, meat, bakeries, food factories and laboratories;

• Health sector, such as pharmacies and the like, medical clinics (dispensaries), hospitals, laboratories, factories, factories and materials and medical devices;

• Media sector in its various means;

• Transportation sector, such as those transporting goods, parcels, customs clearance, warehouses, warehouses, logistics services, supply chains for the health sector, the food sector, and port operations;

• E-commerce activities such as those working in the electronic procurement applications for the excluded activities and those working in the delivery applications of the excluded activities;

• Accommodation services activities such as hotels and furnished apartments;

• Energy sector such as gas stations and emergency services for the electric company;

• Financial services and insurance sector, such as direct accidents (Najm), urgent health insurance services (approvals), and other insurance services;

• Telecom sector as Internet and communication network operators;

• Water sector, such as the water company emergency services and home drinking water delivery service (graying).

Additional exclusions

The Interior Ministry statement also said movement during the curfew time will be allowed for security, military and health cars, government regulatory services vehicles, and activity vehicles excluded in the vital industries and services mentioned above. 

Delivery services through smart device applications (express delivery services) during the curfew will be allowed for food and drug needs and other essential goods and services that are excluded and delivered to homes. Excluded activities can be known by calling the toll-free number in all regions of the Kingdom 999, except for the Makkah Al-Mukarramah region, which is called at 911.

Muezzins will be allowed to access mosques to lift the call to prayer at the time of the curfew.

Workers in diplomatic missions and international organizations and the like residing in the Diplomatic Quarter will be allowed to move during the curfew period to and from their business headquarters in the neighborhood.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Dubai, Jan 8: Iranian state television said on Wednesday that at least 80 "American terrorists" were killed in attacks involving 15 missiles Tehran launched on US targets in Iraq, adding that none of the missiles were intercepted.

State TV, citing a senior Revolutionary Guards source, also said Iran had 100 other targets in the region in its sights if Washington took any retaliatory measures. It also said US helicopters and military equipment were "severely damaged".

Iran launched missile attacks on US-led forces in Iraq in the early hours of Wednesday in retaliation for the US drone strike on an Iranian commander whose killing has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East.

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