Girl, 7, 'Clinging to Life' After Iran's Attack on Israel

Girl from Arab Bedouin community was the only person seriously injured in attack
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 15, 2024 1:30 AM CDT
The Only Serious Casualty of Iran's Attack on Israel Is Girl, 7
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran, in central Israel, Sunday, April 14, 2024.   (AP Photo/Tomer Neuberg, File)

A 7-year-old girl, a member of an Arab Bedouin community in Israel's Negev desert, was the only serious casualty of Iran's attack on Israel Saturday night. Amina al-Hasoni was "clinging to life" at a hospital Sunday, the New York Times reports. Her home in the village of al-Fur'ah was hit in the barrage of drones, rockets, and missiles; it is a part of one of the Bedouin villages that is not recognized by Israeli officials. That lack of recognition means a lack of other things including running water, sewers, electricity—and bomb shelters. The Hasoni family (variously spelled Hassouna) says there was nowhere to run when the rocket warning sirens went off.

Amina was hit by a fragment of a projectile, suffering a serious head injury, France24 reports. "We have no shelter," her father says. Adds the president of the regional Bedouin council, "It's always the Bedouins who suffer, whether the shooting comes from the east or the west. We are the victims, and nobody takes us into account." He said the Bedouins—descendants of Muslim Arab shepherds who number about 300,000 in Israel—"demand all of our rights. We must have protection for our villages—we must act together with the government to make sure there are no further victims." (More Israel stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X