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The hospital, by order of the family, would only say she had pneumonia as a complication of the flu.

On Monday, the daily Ha'aretz broke the silence by Israeli papers that honored the family's request for privacy and reported that Haza "died of AIDS," but without quoting any official source in the hospital or the Health Ministry.

Bentwich said he regrets the fact that the Haza family decided to act as it did, keeping secret the cause of her death.

He did not know details of Haza's case but said that flu could be fatal in an HIV carrier who was not receiving proper treatment and whose immune system was compromised.

"It could be that she didn't take the anti-HIV drug cocktail at all; or she may have received it but didn't like the regimen; or the virus showed resistance to the drugs. Or she may have gotten it, but it wasn't enough to strengthen her immune system," Bentwich said.