A Melbourne student who was allegedly shot at by Israeli forces has recalled how she feared losing her life and is now fighting to save the vision in her right eye.
Ranem Abu Izneid, 20, has arrived back home in Melbourne following the terrifying ordeal, which took place when she was studying in her room om campus at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, a Palestinian town in the West Bank, on November 15.
Speaking from her hospital bed, Ms Abu Izneid said she heard gunshots and her flatmate went to the window to see what was happening, ABC News reported.
The student claimed an Israeli soldier then started to shoot at the room’s window.
‘The bullets penetrated the frame of the window, causing shrapnel to be lodged in my face, neck and my chest and specifically my right eye,’ she said.
‘I could have been dead.’
The third year dentistry student doesn’t know if she’ll be able to return to her studies and is still traumatised, as well as still being in pain from her physical injuries.
The Australian citizen said her life had been ‘flipped upside down’, adding that she had been minding her own business when the shooting occurred.
Ranem Abu Izneid, 20, (pictured) is now recovering in Royal Melbourne Hospital after she was wounded by shrapnel in her university room in the West Bank on November 15
The student (pictured) suffered injuries to her face, neck and chest and will undergo surgery in Melbourne to save her right eye
The student was thankful to the Australian embassy staff who aided her family but she would like more help.
‘I want to be able to see again. I want to be able to achieve my dreams again. I want them to help me out with my studies, if I can continue my dentistry studies here,’ she said.
Her mother Rana said her family were in disbelief over the attack and find the situation ‘horrific’.
She added that where her daughter was studying is a ‘safe area’ with no war and full of students.
Ms Abu Izneid underwent surgery in Jerusalem before a painful journey to Jordan, followed by the long haul flight to Australia.
The third year dentistry student flew back to Australia without a medical escort and the Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association have called it ‘inappropriate’
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it gave consular assistance but the student was put on a commercial flight to Melbourne without a medical escort, reported 9 News.
The Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association is unhappy about the student’s lack of medical assistance on her long flight home, calling it ‘inappropriate’.
They and Ms Abu Izneid’s family have requested an independent investigation into the alleged shooting.
“It’s so frustrating, so frustrating, I can’t imagine why we allowed this to happen,” doctor Mohammed Irrimeh from the Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association said,
Despite the Australian government’s The Smart Traveller website advising Australians no to travel to the West Bank, the town the student was in is a non-combat zone.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s office and the Embassy of Israel in Australia for comment.
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