Family of Palestinian killed by Gaza rocket gets Israeli state benefits

The father of six died in hospital. Recognizing him as a victim of terror, the Israeli Defense Ministry and National Insurance Institute will give the family state benefits. 

By World Israel News Staff

A Palestinian from Gaza who was in Israel on a work permit was killed and his brother was injured after a rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad fell in southern Israel on Saturday afternoon

The rocket, which fell in Shokeda, also injured a third man from Israel. The men were transferred to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba to receive medical treatment.

The two brothers from Gaza, Abdullah and Khamed Abu Gaba, both in their 30s, were rushed to emergency surgery at the hospital. Abdullah, a father of six, died from his wounds. His brother is in critical condition.

Israel has officially recognized Abdullah as a victim of terror, which entitles the family to state benefits.

The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) confirmed that some of the Palestinians killed and injured in Gaza in the latest round of fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) organization were hit by rockets fired by Palestinian terror groups that fell short.

Hamas, in response, accused PCHR of a “lack of patriotism,” Khaled Abu Toameh of the Jerusalem Post reported.

According to a report published last Friday, PCHR, which was founded in the mid 1990s by a group of Palestinian lawyers and human rights activists,found that three civilians, including two children, were killed by misfired rockets while another 26 were injured, including seven children and five women.

The Hamas-controlled Media Office denounced the center and its report, saying it was not authorized to reach such conclusions.

“We deplore the fact that a local institution issued a report claiming there had been civilian casualties as a result of local rockets fired by the resistance factions,” the Hamas office said in a statement. “The occupation took advantage of this to evade responsibility for its documented crimes.”

Such institutions are “not authorized to determine the nature of an event.” It added: “The principle is to rely on what is issued by explosive experts and the forensic laboratory. Therefore, what is stated in this report contradicts the simplest principles of professionalism and lacks the opinion of experts.”