Cartoon published on the back cover of the official PA daily

Text on cartoon: “Laila Gandour (see note below- Ed.)”

The cartoon shows an Israeli soldier removing a bottle from a baby’s mouth and replacing it with a bottle marked with the skull and crossbones symbol for poison.
The cartoon refers to Laila Gandour, an 8-month-old Palestinian baby girl who died on May 21, 2018, at the March of Return riots on the Gazan border with Israel, to which her family had brought her. The Palestinians have claimed that she died of tear gas inhalation; however, she suffered from existing health conditions and the cause of death has not been determined. Pictures of Gandour and her funeral have become a symbol of the border riots.

The day after the cartoon was published, a picture was taken of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas reading the official PA daily while hospitalized in Ramallah, and this cartoon was clearly visible on the back cover. This picture of Abbas has been widely disseminated in the media, possibly to show him being well after being hospitalized with pneumonia.