So hastily did Israeli snipers snatch the life of one of the participants in the peaceful protests at the Gaza borders Ahmed Mohammed Abu Helou after shooting him by an explosive bullet in the head leading to his eventual death after days of falling in a comma.
Ahmed Abu Helou 19 was hit by an explosive bullet in the back of his head causing an extensive damage to his brain.
The PIC reporter noted that when he went to cover his story and while looking for some details from his brothers and relatives about him they summed up his biography by saying “he was a very simple person in his relations with others” condemning the crime of the Israeli sniper who hit him by an explosive bullet.
The Bureij refugee camp border point remains the hottest point along the separation fence between Gaza Strip and 1948 occupied Palestine which has witnessed the martyrdom and injury of hundreds of young men and women since the outbreak of the Jerusalem Intifada in October 2016 after they took part in peaceful protests.
A friend of the border
Mustapha al-Lidawi 19 is the closest friend of Abu Helou who knows more than anyone else of the detail of the incident of the injury and martyrdom of the young man. He used to accompany him during the peaceful protests along with other friends many of them were killed too such as Gamal Musleh Mohammed Abu Sa’ada Amir Abu Musaed Abdul Rahman Al Dabbagh and others.
On the day of the incident Abu Helou and his friends happily sang a traditional song (Diheyya) that was the final chapter of Abu Helou’s life which ended by the Israeli explosive bullet.
He said: “We were singing without causing any harm. He placed his hand on my shoulders when another young man shouted at him. With his back facing the borders an Israeli sniper hit him with an explosive bullet in the back of his head.”
Helou fell into Mostafa’s hands and began bleeding due to a deep hole in his skull. He looked up and was unconscious. Mostafa tried to pull him away with the help of other young men. Israeli snipers kept shooting and the bullets kept coming along with gas grenades hitting the belly of a young man.
An ambulance took Helou to the hospital leaving Mostafa on the ground unconscious. When he regained consciousness he rushed to the hospital and found his friend clinically dead. A week later he was pronounced dead.
The occupation forces have escalated their aggression on the border areas by targeting every moving vehicle with explosive bullets and sometimes artillery shells especially after the Israeli army confirmed that it would deal differently with anyone approaching the border following the explosion of a device east of Khan Younis two weeks ago.
A sudden departure
The sadness of Suleiman Abu Helou Ahmed’s brother who is two years older than him is clear. He prays to God to be merciful to him and questions the reason behind his assassination despite his innocence and regardless of the fact that he posed no threat to the occupation soldiers.
“My brother was quite young and everything about his personality was beautiful. He never harmed anyone. We used to go around together. I was shocked by the news that he was hit by an explosive bullet” said Suleiman.
When Saleh Abu Helou the cousin of the martyr who is eight years older than him recalled memories with his cousin he remembered him as a child who left this life suddenly due to an unfair shooting.
“I still treat him as my little cousin. He was a very innocent and simple young man. I am very sad for his death. I went with my cousins and relatives to stay next to him at the hospital and he was in a state of clinical death. We said a final goodbye to him.”
In the last days of Helou’s life he was very busy taking the children of his brother Hani Mohammad Talin Abed Rabbo unusually which left Hani in surprise and mixed feelings before he left them forever.
