Identification of Palestinian Burned Alive in Israeli Tent Massacre
Caution: This content includes references to death.
The Palestinian who was captured in photographs burning alive during an airstrike on a tent encampment in Gaza City by Israeli forces has been identified. The attack occurred on Monday.
Sha’ban al-Dalou, a 19-year-old with a bright future in software engineering, was studying at Gaza’s al-Azhar University before it was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike last November, only two months into his academic journey. After multiple displacements due to the intense military actions by Israel, al-Dalou and his family took refuge in the courtyard of al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, located in central Gaza. The nation conducting these strikes, a recipient of U.S. support, is currently facing charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice.
“We’ve been forced to move five times so far in this cruel war of starvation,” al-Dalou mentioned in a video posted on social media, the date of which is not specified.
“As the eldest, I’m responsible for my family,” he shared in the video, background filled with the sound of an Israeli drone. “I have two sisters, two young brothers, and my parents. We left our home under severe conditions—facing homelessness, scarce food, extremely limited medical supplies, and this tent we built ourselves is all we have against the cold.”
Earlier this month, al-Dalou was receiving treatment at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after an Israeli airstrike on a Deir al-Balah mosque, which resulted in over 20 fatalities.
“They bombed right outside al-Aqsa Hospital while I was sleeping inside,” al-Dalou texted his brother following the attack, as reported by The Siasat Daily, a prominent Indian newspaper. “I felt like I was staring death in the face. They pulled me from the debris; I was unconscious, bleeding, and wounded—it all felt like a nightmare.”
“I sustained a head injury and received 11 stitches behind my ear,” he continued. “Another strong hit, and I might not have survived. I also have a lung injury… it’s incredibly painful.”
Tragically, al-Dalou, his mother, and at least two others lost their lives early Monday when Israeli bombs targeted the hospital’s courtyard where they were sleeping. The assault ignited a fierce fire through the tent encampment. Disturbing footage and photographs showed al-Dalou burning, screaming for help with an IV still in his arm.
In March, al-Dalou wrote, “I once had big dreams, but this war has shattered them. It’s taken a toll on my body and mind. I suffer from depression and hair loss due to the ongoing trauma. Time seems to have stopped in Gaza, and we’re trapped in an endless nightmare.”
Waleed Shahid, a U.S. progressive strategist who has worked with politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, reacted to the horrifying images of al-Dalou’s death, stating on social media that “the sight of hospital patients, connected to IVs as American-supplied Israeli bombs set fire around them in Gaza, might become the iconic image of this atrocity,” similarly to how the photo of “Napalm Girl” Phan Thị Kim Phúc became symbolic of the Vietnam War.
Sha’ban al-Dalou, his mother Alaa al-Dalou, and other victims of Monday’s bombing are among the estimated 42,289 Palestinians killed by Israel’s year-long assault on Gaza, as reported by local officials, United Nations agencies, and international human rights organizations. Nearly 100,000 others have been injured, and about 10,000 are missing, presumed dead under the debris of destroyed buildings. Additionally, millions have been forcibly displaced, left starving, and inflicted with diseases.
On Tuesday, it was reported that the Biden administration last week cautioned Israeli officials that they must enact “urgent and sustained actions” to ameliorate the humanitarian situation in Gaza within 30 days or risk losing billions in U.S. military aid.
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