August missile attack destroyed legs, derailed life of young victim

Source: Daily Star, 28-11-2006
TYRE: Eleven-year-old Mohammad Moussa has withdrawn from his family, relatives and friends after losing both his legs during this summer`s month-long war with "Israel". At the onset of conflict, Mohammad and his father Samir Moussa volunteered to help with relief efforts in the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Tyre, closing their eyes and ears to the shells and seemingly endless rockets raining down all around.
On August 11, three days before an UN-brokered cessation of hostilities took effect, Mohammad and Samir were delivering boxes of powdered milk to villages in the South when the young boy`s life was forever changed.
"We saw ‘Israeli' warplanes hovering right above our heads, so we tried to hide from view," Samir said. "We never imagined that we would be the victims of surveillance drones."
"Nevertheless," he said, "we managed to deliver the aid to a nearby village; it`s only when we were preparing ourselves to leave the village that a missile launched in our direction."
The missile attack, believed by his father to have been fired from the drone, caused wounds to Mohammad`s back and burns to most of his body. Both legs were amputated.
Mohammad now uses a wheelchair on the rare occasions he ventures from the safety of his bed.
Today, after returning home from a two-month hospitalization, Mohammad generally refuses to speak, and has dropped out of school.
"Mohammad has changed a lot," his older sister, Mirna, said. "He has become aggressive."
After much cajoling by his parents, the young boy agreed to speak to The Daily Star.
Mohammad said he dropped out of school "because everyone there has pity in their eyes when they look at me and I don`t like the curious look in their eyes.
"I want to play football with my classmates and not be confined to a chair."
Mohammad`s mother, Nabila, prays that a charity organization will provide Mohammad with prosthetic limbs "so that he could live his life like all children his age."