"Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said an 8-month-old girl has been taken off a list of Palestinians killed in border clashes with Israeli troops last week, while authorities await results of a pathologist's report.
Layla al-Ghandour had originally been listed among the 60 Palestinians killed during massive border protests on the Gaza fence on May 14. The infant's death intensified condemnation of Israel over the violence, though the health ministry has since signaled the child may not have been killed from tear gas inhalation but rather because of a pre-existing condition.
'Layla al-Ghandour is not listed among the martyrs, because we are still waiting for the report,' Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra, director of public relations for the ministry, told The Guardian newspaper according to a Thursday report.
'The baby arrived to the hospital dead, and the family said she was there at the border and she inhaled tear gas,' he added. 'It wasn't clear in the beginning whether she died because of that or not. That's why we referred the case.'...
Reports that she had died from tear gas fired by Israeli troops during mass protests on the Gaza border with Israel were prominent in global news coverage of the violence for much of that day. Her funeral was filmed and featured on global TV news broadcasts and newspaper front pages.
Later on May 15, however, a Gazan doctor told The Associated Press that Ghandour had a preexisting medical condition and that he did not believe her death was caused by tear gas. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to disclose medical information to the media.
The Guardian said an initial hospital report listed 'heart defects since birth' in the infant and that she suffered a 'severe stop in blood circulation and respiration.' The hospital report did not say if tear gas had or had not contributed to her death..."