Mustafa Tamimi, a 28-year-old Palestinian taxi driver,[3] was killed when he was hit by a tear gas canister by Israeli forces fired from close range and striking him directly in the face on 9 December 2011 during a weekly protest[4] in Nabi Salih, West Bank.

[8] According to the Israeli activist Haim Schwarczenberg, Tamimi fell down after he was hit, and his friends then rushed to him and "covered his bloodied face with a black-and-white Palestinian checkered scarf".

Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters in response to stones being thrown and tried to push the protesters back using "jets of skunk water, a foul-smelling chemical waste spray".

The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem questioned the legality of the soldier's act since he "could not ensure that no harm will result".

[10] Tamimi's supporters accused Israeli soldiers "of using excessive force to deal with the protester, delaying an ambulance from reaching him and not letting his family or others to be with him".

[1] Tamimi's death, and the photo which was said to record the moment before he was hit, raised concerns over the Israeli military's use of force in dealing with Palestinian demonstrators.

)[9] Yedioth Ahronoth wrote that Lerner intended "to use the word in its literal sense–as failure", and that he had shown his "happiness" for Tamimi's chance of survival after he was transferred to the hospital.

[13] Lerner later denied the mockery and said he did not mean "to hurt anyone's feelings by writing 'fail'", and that "fail" was directed at activists who he believed were not impartial relating the incident.

[9] Lerner described the death as an "individual tragedy, with an awful outcome" and believed that Tamimi had "put himself at unnecessary risk" and that the soldier "had operated within the realm of their responsibility".