A Palestinian has told Israeli investigators that Hamas paid the family of his infant cousin to say that she died during clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops. Eight-month-old Layla al-Ghandour died of a blood disease, which also killed her brother a year earlier. Mahmoud Omar said he heard about his cousin’s death while protesting at the border.
Omar, reportedly a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, was captured attempting to infiltrate Israel through the Gaza border fence. He was charged with multiple security offenses, including membership in a terrorist organization, terrorist activity and attempted infiltration. He testified that Hamas paid his aunt Mariam and her husband, Anwar, 8,000 shekel (about $2,200) to say that Layla had died from exposure to tear gas during the border protests.
The Gaza Health Ministry had already removed Layla from the list of those killed during the border clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops.
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