Published: 11 December 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Israel won’t apologise for killing daughters of Gaza doctor (Al-Monitor)
Beersheba District Court has thrown out a lawsuit brought by Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish against the State of Israel. He was suing the government for killing his three daughters and niece 10 years ago, during Operation Cast Lead. The girls were killed when two tank shells hit his home in the town of Jabalia in the Gaza Strip.
It happened on January 16, 2009. I was sitting in the TV studio at Channel 10 when my phone began to ring. When I answered, I could hear Abuelaish scream: “They killed my daughters.” I immediately decided to hit the speaker button, so that his screams could be heard live on air.
As a result of the broadcast, the IDF allowed him to transfer other members of his family injured in the attack to hospitals in Israel. The audience was shocked. Statistics about the casualties in Gaza suddenly had real faces and voices. In just 24 hours, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced a unilateral cease-fire.
Abuelaish sued for damages, hoping that it would force Israel to apologise for killing the girls. He told me that the apology was much more important to him then the damages he claimed. In any case, he planned to donate them to a fund he had established in Canada that offers scholarships for young girls in the Middle East, including Israel.
WATCH VIDEO: On-air Conversation between Shlomi Eldar and doctor
Gaza doctor who lost his daughters: 'Only women can solve the conflict' (Ynet)
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5413769,00.html
Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish, who lost three daughters to an IDF strike during Operation Cast Lead, remains optimistic peace is possible. 'I'm sure women will succeed where men have failed. Men are motivated by ego; they tried for 100 years and failed. I am sure that ultimately the women will succeed.'
Court rules against Gaza doc who sued over IDF shelling that killed three daughters (Times of Israel)
Izzeldin Abuelaish wanted an apology and reparations for the deadly 2009 incident; justices find deaths stemmed from terror groups’ fighting from within civilian population
Photo: Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish poses for a picture with his children in his house in Jebaliya, northern Gaza Strip, in May, 2009 (AP/Khalil Hamra)
