“Cruel” and “heartbreaking”: Internet laments death of Palestinian with Down syndrome who was mauled by an Israeli army dog ​​- Comment

TRIGGER WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS VIOLENCE.

Mohammed Bhar, a 24-year-old Palestinian with Down syndrome and autism, was left for dead after being attacked by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attack dog during a raid on his family’s home in Shejaiya on July 3.

His mother Nabila saw the animal attacking him.

“The dog attacked him, biting his chest and then his hand. Mohammed didn’t speak, he just mumbled ‘no, no, no’. The dog bit his arm and it was bleeding. I wanted to get to him but I couldn’t. No one could get to him and he patted the dog’s head and said ‘enough, my dear, enough’. Finally he let go of his hand and the dog started tugging at him while he was bleeding,” she told the BBC.

IDF soldiers locked Bhar in a separate room, supposedly to treat his injuries, and forbade his family from seeing him. Shortly afterward, they were forced to leave their home at gunpoint – without Bhar. During the raid, two of his brothers were arrested and have not yet been released.

A week later, the family returned to their residence and found Bhar’s body.

“They left him without stitches or care. Just these basic first aid measures. As you can see, Mohammed had been dead for some time, of course, because he had been abandoned. We thought he was not at home. But it turned out that he had been bleeding all the time and was alone at home. Of course, the army left him behind,” Bhar’s brother Jibraeel told the BBC.

This ordeal sparked anger and disgust on social media.

Actor Kubra Khan shared the news on her Instagram story, writing, “You think your heart can’t break any harder… and then you see this.” The actor prayed for God’s mercy.

X-users (formerly Twitter) described how heartbreaking the incident was, stressing that Bhar “Habibi‘ – Arabic for “my darling” – as it attacked him.

Another tweet said Bhar saw the dog “as what he was born to be: a gentle companion” and accused the Israeli army of turning the animal into a “killing machine.”

Netizens whose siblings have similar disabilities also condemned Bhar’s death. “I cannot believe how anyone can cause even the slightest pain to anyone, let alone such a pure and innocent person.”

Others spoke about the atrocities taking place in Gaza, adding that this was “just one of countless thousands of similar stories.”

One social media user also stressed that if something similar happened to an Israeli, they would never stop doing it, adding that “all media would report on it and (they) would justify the literal annihilation (…) of many people.”

The scene has traumatised Bhar’s mother. “I will never forget this scene… I constantly see the dog tearing at him and his hand and the blood pouring out of his hand… It is always in front of my eyes and never leaves me for a moment. We could not save him, neither from them nor from the dog,” she told the BBC.

“People with disabilities in Gaza are in extreme distress. They are likely to be the first and next to be killed because their disability limits their ability to flee or participate in evacuations,” the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities said in May.

This is not the first case of a person with disabilities being injured or killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. It is one of many stories that reflect the cruelty inflicted on the Palestinian people.