“I heard the paramedic say ‘dangerous’ and knew what it meant”
Five men who tried to come to the teenager's rescue, including his father, were also shot by Israeli forces.
Jerusalem24 – On the same day that Palestinian fighters Ibrahim Nabulsi and Islam Sbbouh were assassinated by Israeli special forces during a siege on a house in the old city of Nablus, and a total of 69 Palestinians were injured by live ammunition, 16-year-old Hussein Jamal Taha was shot and killed by Israeli fire despite being uninvolved in any confrontations.
Five men who tried to come to his rescue, including his father, were also shot by Israeli forces.
Hussein was one of two Palestinian teenagers shot and killed by Israeli forces in one day.
With the summer break coming to an end, Hussein was supposed to start the new school year as a student in the 11th grade, studying electrical wiring.
Hussien Jamal Taha was born in June 2006 and had four sisters and one brother. He was a compassionate and quiet kid, as described by his father to 24FM.
Tuesday Morning, 9 August 2022, Hussein was out with his father to go to work in the old city of Nablus alongside his younger brother, 13-year-old Hamza.
“On our way to work at 8 am we walked by Israeli army convoys that passed us,” says his father. “But after a few minutes, the Israeli forces stormed the area… We kept walking but then I realized that Hussein wasn’t with us.”
Before going back to look for Hussein, the father had to make sure Hamza, the youngest, was safe and sound, so he walked him to a nearby school’s yard with other people who had taken shelter there.
On the way back to look for his son, he spotted Hussein. “I saw him and gestured for him to come, but he raised his arm and said, ‘I’m shot.’”
Hussein’s father says that a young man went to help Hussein but was shot as well. The father himself then tried reaching his son and the other young man, but two Israeli soldiers hiding on the street’s corner shot him as well, in the right leg.
A total of five men, including Hussein’s father, were shot while trying to reach the boy and evacuate him.
“They kept shooting at us while trying to reach the ambulance that was 120 meters away from us.”
While trying to wake up the unconscious Hussein, his father heard the paramedic in the ambulance warn the hospital about their incoming patient. “The paramedic was speaking in English, I understood a few words… He said the word ‘dangerous’ and I knew what it meant. So I told him, ‘I’m his father, tell me the truth.’ He answered with, ‘everything will be alright.’”
When they reached the hospital, Hussein was immediately taken to the ER. He was pronounced dead two hours later, at the same time as fighters Nabulsi and Sbbouh.
