‘Didn’t feel bullet’: Palestinian teen shot by IDF & denied medical entry to Jerusalem tells story

A 17-year-old teen was refused entry to Jerusalem for medical care after he was critically injured by Israeli soldiers during a protest at the border between Israel and Gaza. The government rejected his request due to him being a “main inciter.”

“I went to the border to protest against the siege and support the prisoners in Jerusalem,” the boy recalled the protest occurring on May 23 in an interview with RT.

Khaled Ghamri suffered severe injuries, including one of his kidneys destroyed, a ruptured intestine, damaged liver and 12 severed arteries, as well as a fractured hand after he went to a demonstration near the Israeli border and got struck with live ammunition by the IDF.

“They shot me in the hand and I fell down screaming,” said the teen, who recently regained consciousness after a nine-day coma.

“My hand is paralyzed, I didn’t feel the bullet enter my stomach,” Khaled adds, showing his right hand dangling feebly.

“Look, I can’t raise my hand. I can only raise it with the help of my other hand.” A single bullet entered Khaled’s arm, exited through and hit his stomach, damaging organs, according to a head of surgery at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

It was thought he would die at any moment, his father, Hosney Ghamri says.

“When the doctor came out, he took me out to one side and said the situation my son was in was very serious, he was expected to die at any moment.”

As Khaled was still in coma, Hosney Ghamri had previously requested an exit permit to Israel, which was declined, according to rights movement Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP).

Then the family had a trip to an Israeli hospital rejected since “his request … does not meet the required criteria and cannot be approved.”

“During this event Ghamri attempted to attack forces who were present near the fence,” Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) replied, adding the soldiers “act in order to protect the state of Israel's borders.”

The boy is said to have been “a main inciter in the riots,” which the authorities say were organized by Hamas.

However, his father believes it “had nothing to do with security,” referring to “a directive issued a year ago to deny treatment in Israel to anyone injured near the Eastern border area.”

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According to the latest report by the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 42 percent of patients were either denied entry to Israel or delayed with no response by the time of hospital appointment, with three and 39 percent respectively, in April.

Three people died while waiting for the authorities to reply.

COGAT, however, highlighted 13,500 patients have entered Israel for medical reasons in 2017, with 691 ambulances crossing the border urgently, while last year more than 30,000 patients and 1,695 ambulances traveled to Israel.