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Warning: This story contains images that may be distressing to some readers
A photo of a mother cradling her eight-month-old baby at the morgue in Gaza City has gone viral.
Leila al-Ghandour was one of the youngest victims reported to have died after breathing in tear gas on Monday, which has been described as the deadliest day in Gaza since 2014.
According to Reuters, the baby’s mother held her tiny body and cried, “Let her stay with me. It is too early for her to go.”
Leila’s grandmother, Heyam Omar, said she thought the girl was asleep before realising the tragic reality. “We were at the tent camp east of Gaza when the Israelis fired lots of tears,” Omar said, according to The Metro UK. “When we got back home, the baby stopped crying and I thought she was asleep. I took her to the children’s hospital and the doctor told me she was martyred [dead].”
The baby’s body was wrapped in a Palestinian flag and buried on Tuesday. Mourners marched through the streets and cried, “With souls and blood we redeem you martyrs.”
Clashes flared on Monday between Israeli forces and protesters, who were opposed to the relocation of the new US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Palestinian medics have reported that 2,700 people have been injured in the demonstrations and 58 have been killed, reports The Evening Standard.
The World Health Organisation said the number of injured people presenting to hospital was “very overwhelming” for Gaza’s health system.
