Surgical Mask Fails To Protect Terrorist From Bullet

Palestinian public health authorities now worry that confidence in their pronouncements and guidelines will suffer as a result.

Kibbutz Kissufim, near the Gaza border, January 10 – A Hamas fighter who relied on guidance from Palestinian public health authorities in shielding himself from threats now fights for his life in Shifa Hospital following an exchange of fire with IDF troops that resulted in a high-velocity round penetrating the synthetic barrier he had fastened over his mouth and nose and lodging in his brain.

Hussein Abughandar, 21, participated in an operation Monday near the border with Israel, during which he attempted to hurl an explosive device at a section of the fence separating the territory from an Israeli farming community on the other side, but an IDF sniper shot him in the head before he could release the weapon from his grasp. A comrade dragged Abughandar clear of the bomb before it detonated, but his wounds required emergency surgery. The bullet went through the mask he had donned before the confrontation even though the mask entirely covered his mouth and nostrils in keeping with instruction from Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization recommendations. Palestinian public health authorities now worry that confidence in their pronouncements and guidelines will suffer as a result.

“Mr. Abughandar is in serious but stable condition,” a hospital official confirmed. “There is no immediate danger to his life, thanks to the efforts of our surgeons, but the long-term effects of the injury remain undetermined. There is a distinct possibility he may never regain some important cognitive and motor functions even if he does survive. I understand that he was wearing a mask as recommended by the Ministry of Health even though he was outdoors, and still a bullet was able to penetrate that protection and nearly kill him. It must be stressed that masks reduce, but do not eliminate, the risks all around us in this era of COVID.” The official declined to specify whether Abughandar has tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen in any of its variants, citing patient privacy policies.

A Ministry of Health representative counseled caution. “This unfortunate, and freak, occurrence, does not diminish the overall effectiveness of proper mask-wearing,” insisted Khalil Masri, Deputy Director of the Epidemiology Section at the ministry. “We urge all Palestinians to continue adherence to distancing, isolation, and masking procedures, and we similarly urge everyone to get immunized and keep their immunizations up to date with the recommended booster shots.” Masri acknowledged that Palestinians have been slow to embrace vaccinations, putting more of them at greater risk of sharing Abughandar’s fate.

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