BBC journalist mourns death of his 11 months old son Omar killed (ActiveStills.org)
BBC journalist mourns death of his 11 months old son Omar killed (ActiveStills.org)

The 11-month-old son of a BBC Arabic service's picture editor who was killed in November in Gaza was the victim of an "errant" Palestinian rocket, not an Israeli airstrike as initially reported, it has been claimed.

The death of Omar, son of BBC Arabic stringer Jihad al-Masharawi, became a symbol of Israeli aggression during Operation Pillar of Defence, in which more than 160 Palestinians were killed.

"Spare a thought for Omar, 11-month son of our BBC Arabic Service colleague in Gaza, killed in today's Israeli air strike," tweeted Paul Adams, BBC World Service Washington Correspondent, at the time.

His father told BBC Arabic: "Shrapnel hit our house. My sister-in-law was killed along with my son. And my brother and my other son were wounded. What did my son to to die like this? What was his mistake? What did he do?"

But the UN office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the blast was caused by "what appeared to be a Palestinian rocket that fell short of Israel".

Israel Human rights