Hamas tried to cast Israeli troops as war criminals by falsifying the true cause of death an 8-month baby, the State Attorney's Office said on Thursday.
Mahmoud Omar, a 20-year-old Gaza resident who is currently facing trial for terrorist activities, told Israeli authorities that Hamas military leader Yahya Sinwar paid his family 8,000 shekels ($2,200) to falsely claim that 8-month-old Layla Ghandour, who died from a hematological disease in May, was actually killed by Israeli tear gas.
According to the indictment, Omar took part in one of the weekly demonstrations organized by Hamas along the Gaza border. During the demonstration, he got a call from his mother, who told him that Ghandour, her niece, had died.
Upon returning home, he learned that Ghandour had died from the same hematological disease her brother, Salim Ghandour, had also died from at around the same age in 2017. He then learned that her parents, his mother's sister and brother-in-law, told the media that the infant had been killed by Israeli tear gas, as per the agreement with Sinwar.
Omar is facing trial for taking part in terrorist activities, rioting, attempting to breach Israel's border and attacking Israeli forces, among other offenses.
