Gaza man with Down syndrome attacked by IDF dog and left to die, mother says

The Israeli military has admitted that a Palestinian man with Down syndrome who was attacked by an army dog ​​in Gaza was abandoned by soldiers after his family was ordered to leave.

Mohammed Bhar was found dead by his family a week later. In response to questions from the BBC, the Israeli army said its troops left Muhammed Bhar alone because soldiers injured in a rocket attack needed their help.

Warning: Readers may find some details below disturbing.

There was always his family. When he was bullied and beaten at school, they were there to hug him when he came home. And when the war started and he was terrorized by the sound of falling bombs, someone always said everything would be okay.

Muhammed was heavy and had difficulty moving. He spent his days sitting in an armchair. If he needed anything, a niece or nephew was there to help.

Muhammed Bhar was 24 and had Down syndrome and autism. His mother, Nabila Bhar, 70, told the BBC: “He didn’t know how to eat, drink or change his clothes. I was the one who changed his nappies. I was the one who fed him. He didn’t know how to do anything by himself.”

On June 27, war returned to the Bhars’ neighborhood, and Muhammad’s small world became even smaller. Along with other residents of Shejaiya, east of Gaza City’s city center, the Bhars were ordered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to evacuate.

The IDF advanced into Shejaiya in pursuit of Hamas fighters fighting from tunnels and houses. But the Bhars were tired of moving.

In a weary tone, Nabila, who is a widow, listed the names of relatives’ houses where they had sought shelter.

“We were evacuated about 15 times. We went to Jibreel’s house, but then there was a bombing of Jibreel’s house. We went to Haydar Square, but then there was a bombing of Haydar Square. We went to Rimal, but then there was a bombing of Rimal. We went to Shawa Square, but then there was a bombing of Shawa Square.”

The fighting intensified in the streets around them, and they hid in various places in the house, often in the bathroom when the shooting became particularly intense.

“We were under siege for seven days. The tanks and soldiers were all around the house… Muhammed stayed on his couch… and he didn’t want to sit anywhere else but there,” Nabila says.

For Mohammed, war meant loud, violent noises, the air vibrating with the shock of shells exploding nearby. None of this could be explained to him.

“He panicked and said, ‘I’m scared, scared,’” Nabila recalls.

“He said ‘Hey, hey’, thinking someone was going to hit him. He was always scared, anxious. We came to him, comforted him. He didn’t understand much of it. His autism made it very difficult.”

On July 3, the family says, the IDF raided their home on Nazaz Street. Nabila says there were dozens of soldiers with a combat dog — animals used to find Hamas fighters and check for booby traps and explosives.

At first she heard them ‘breaking in and destroying everything’ before the soldiers and the dog entered the room.

Referring to Muhammed, she says: “I told them, ‘He is disabled, disabled. Have pity on him, he is disabled. Keep the dog away from him.’”

Nabila saw the animal attacking Mohammed.

“The dog attacked him, biting his chest and then his hand. Muhammad did not speak, only mumbled, ‘No, no, no.’ The dog bit his arm and the blood flowed. I wanted to get to him, but I could not. No one could get to him and he stroked the dog’s head and said, ‘Enough, my love.’ Finally, he relaxed his hand and the dog began to tear him apart while he bled.”

Around this point, Nabila says, the soldiers took the young man into another room, away from the dog, and tried to treat his wounds.

The terrified Mohammed, who had always relied on his family, was now being cared for by soldiers who had come in from the streets where they had fought hand-to-hand combat with Hamas.

“They took him, put him in a separate room and locked the door. We wanted to see what happened to him. We wanted to see Muhammed, to see what happened to him,” says Nabila.

“They told us to be quiet and pointed their guns at us. They put us in a room where we were alone, and Muhammed was alone in another room. They said, ‘We will bring a military doctor to treat him.'” At one point, according to Nabila, a military doctor arrived and entered the room where Muhammed was lying.

Muhammed’s cousin, Janna Bhar, 11, described how the family begged the soldiers to help him. “We told them Muhammed was not well, but they kept saying he was fine.”

After several hours, it is not clear how many, the family was ordered at gunpoint to leave, leaving Muhammed behind with the soldiers. There were pleas and cries. Two of his brothers were arrested by the army. They have not yet been released. The rest of the family found shelter in a bombed building.

A week later, they return to a location that Muhammed’s brother Jibreel is following. He pulls out his cell phone and shows our cameraman a video of the scene.

Muhammed’s body lies on the ground. There is blood around him and a tourniquet around his arm. This was probably used to stop heavy bleeding from his upper arm. Jibreel points to gauze used to bandage a wound and notes that the blood clotted after the tourniquet was applied.

“They tried to stop the bleeding. Then they left him without stitches or care. Just these basic first aid measures. Of course, as you can see, Muhammed had been dead for a while because he was abandoned. We thought he was not at home. But it turned out that he had been bleeding all that time and had been left alone at home. Of course, the army left him behind.”

It is not clear what injuries caused Muhammed’s death. Nor what happened to him when his family last saw him, and when his brother returned and filmed the dead young man on the ground. He was buried shortly after the family found him, in an alley between houses because it was too dangerous to take the body to the morgue or a cemetery. There was no autopsy and no death certificate.

The family is demanding an investigation, but with fighting still going on and so many deaths, it is hard to believe this will happen anytime soon.

The Israeli army confirmed to the BBC that an army dog ​​had attacked Mr. Bhar and that the soldiers left him alone after giving him initial medical treatment. According to the IDF, the troops entered the house during an intense fight as “part of an operation against the terrorists.”

While searching the building, the dog “bit an individual.” He received treatment and the family was “urged to evacuate the apartment to avoid remaining in the combat zone.”

The army said troops then left Mr Bhar alone because soldiers injured elsewhere by a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) needed help. One of those soldiers died.

The statement, which said the “IDF regrets any harm done to civilians during fighting,” accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields. The statement did not address Mr. Bhar’s condition when the soldiers left him.

Nabila is left with an image of her dead child that refuses to go away. “I will never forget this scene… I see the dog pulling him and his hand all the time, and the blood pouring out of his hand… It is always before my eyes, it never leaves me for a moment. We could not save him, neither from them nor from the dog.”

This story was updated on July 19 with a response from the IDF

With additional reporting by Haneen Abdeen and Alice Doyard.