Two Sri Lankans were among some 800 people who were caught up in the Israeli commando raid on mercy ships carrying emergency aid to Palestinians in the besieged Gaza earlier this week.
The two Lankans were identified as Ahmed Talib 21, a law student in Australia, and his sister Talib Mariam, 18, a medical student in Kuwait.
While Ms. Mariam escaped unhurt in the raid, her brother suffered serious injuries and is being treated at an Istanbul hospital.
The two Lankans have Australian and Sri Lankan citizenships and hail from Beruwala.
Hashim Hibathulla, the grandfather of the two, told the Sunday Times that he was shocked at the incident and added that his grandson
who was shot in the hand and leg was denied medical attention for some 12 hours after being taken to a hospital in the Israeli capital.
He said his two grandchildren had boarded the mercy vessel from a port in Istanbul as they were deeply concerned about the plight of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip which has been virtually cut-off from the rest of the world by Israeli for the past three years.
At least 19 people were killed and more than hundred injured in the bloody raid which Israel justified saying it acted in self defence. But the United Nations and several countries severely condemned the attack.
Australian newspapers quoted the youths’ father Luqman Talib, who rushed from Kuwait to his son's bedside, as saying that the lack of information about surgery performed in Israel was now complicating his son's treatment.
''Ahmed was left to bleed for over 12 hours before medical treatment was availed to him,'' Mr Talib told The Age.
Mr Talib and his wife Zakira were born in Sri Lanka and moved to Australia. He now works in Kuwait. His son is a student at Griffith University, majoring in international affairs.
Ahmed's Talib's wife Jerry Campbell, 22, and sister Maryam, 18, were also on the Turkish protest ferry and were later taken to the Beersheba detention centre.
''[The girls'] treatment by the Israeli Defence Forces was horrendous. They were handcuffed, held at gunpoint, then left under the scorching sun for hours, without access to water or even toilet breaks at times,'' Mr. Talib said. |
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