Israeli soldiers assaulted Tamer Tamimi, 23, at checkpoints twice in one day; he was abused and beaten until he lost consciousness and needed hospital care

5 July 2017

On Sunday, 4 June 2017, at around 5:15 P.M., Tamer Tamimi, a taxi driver from a-Nabi Saleh, arrived at the ‘Atarah checkpoint with seven passengers en route from Ramallah to a-Nabi Saleh and Beit Rima. The ‘Atarah checkpoint has a watchtower that is permanently staffed by soldiers, and guard booths on either side of the road, which are staffed only some of the time.

That day, three soldiers were stationed at the guard booth on the road leading to a-Nabi Saleh, and they were checking some of the vehicles passing through. The soldiers ordered Tamimi to pull over, then ordered him and two passengers to get out of the taxi and sit by the side of the road. They then took all of the passengers’ phones and checked their IDs. The soldiers then proceeded to check the other vehicles that had arrived at the checkpoint.

In a testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad on 5 June 2017, Tamimi described what he saw while he was held up at the checkpoint. His description was backed up by another eyewitness account gathered by B’Tselem. Tamimi recalled:

After an hour or an hour and a half, there was a traffic jam near the checkpoint. I saw my cousin, Samih Tamimi, who is also a taxi driver, talking to the soldiers. I couldn’t hear everything, because they were about 30 meters away from us, but I understood, from a few words I could hear and his gestures, that he was asking them to let me go. They must have ordered him to get back into his car.
One of the passengers in Samih’s taxi wanted to go with his daughter, who looked about ten years old and needed to use the bathroom. The soldier apparently refused. He yelled at the father and ordered him to get back in the taxi. The man wouldn’t and they started yelling at each other. Then, the soldier fired a shot in the air to scare the father, who got back in the taxi without his daughter relieving herself.
While we were waiting, one of the passengers in my taxi asked the same soldier for permission to answer her phone, which was on the taxi’s dashboard. He refused. I heard her begging him, and explaining that her son was calling her on an urgent matter. I asked the solider to let her answer. He told me to shut up, and swore at me “Shut up you asshole, you son of a bitch,” and he hit me with his rifle on the back of the head. I got mad at the soldier for cursing my mother, so I cursed him back. He shoved me with his rifle, and I shoved him back.

One of the soldiers told all of the passengers in the taxi to leave. He took Tamimi to the entrance to the watchtower, where he cuffed his hands behind his back with plastic cable ties and blindfolded him. According to Tamimi’s testimony, the soldier then led him a few meters further into the watchtower yard, where he told him to sit on the ground. When he did, that soldier and two others began verbally abusing him and pulling his hair hard. This abuse went on for several minutes, during which time the soldiers pulled his hair so hard once that he was lifted off the ground. The soldiers then let him be for a few minutes. When they returned, they took off the cable ties and returned his ID card, keys and phone. Tamimi went back to his taxi, and found a cloud of teargas inside it. He opened the doors, waited for about ten minutes and left before the gas had completely cleared.

That same evening, at around 8:00 P.M., his uncle, Mahmoud Tamimi, arrived at the entrance to a-Nabi Saleh. A 52-year-old taxi driver and the married and father of five, he went there after hearing his twenty-year-old daughter was being detained at a temporary checkpoint soldiers had set up at the entrance to the village. When he arrived, he saw the soldiers were detaining three other Palestinians as well. One of the soldiers, who spoke Arabic, took Mahmoud Tamimi’s and his passengers’ ID cards. After he refused to leave without his daughter, the soldier ordered him to sit with the others who were being detained at the checkpoint, and his passengers to leave. Tamimi and the soldier got into an argument. In his testimony, given on 5 June 2017 to B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad, Mahmoud Tamimi recounted:

‘Atarah checkpoint. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B’Tselem, 2 August 2015.

The soldier accused us: “You people from a-Nabi Saleh make trouble, and throw stones at us. We have to give you a lesson. I can shoot at your village right now and bring it down on your heads”. I told him this land belongs to us, that we have full rights, and that neither he, nor anyone else could kill us or destroy our village. His expression and his behavior changed. He looked like someone out to hurt us, to take revenge. He became angry and started acting rudely toward us. The muezzin called for the first evening prayer that marks the breaking of the [Ramadan] fast. I had a bottle of water, and I drank from it to break the fast. So did the others who were detained.

A few minutes later, Tamer Tamimi arrived at the checkpoint at the entrance to the village after he was detained and beaten at the ‘Atarah checkpoint. One of the soldiers ordered him to sit with the other people being detained, and took his ID. Several minutes later, Tamer Tamimi’s phone, which was left in the taxi, rang. He asked one of the soldiers to let him answer it, but the soldier refused. Since the phone kept ringing, and Tamimi thought it was worried relatives calling, he went over to the taxi to answer. Mahmoud Tamimi described what happened next:

The three soldiers blocked Tamer’s path. He was intent on answering the phone. I tried to intervene to calm things down, and asked Tamer to stay quiet. He was stressed and upset. He didn’t listen to me. There were some words between them, and the soldiers shoved him.
One of the soldiers hit Tamer hard in the face with the barrel of his gun. Tamer fell to the ground, unconscious. I started shouting at them. I saw Tamer was foaming at the mouth, which could be a sign someone is dying. I was afraid something might happen to him and started shouting at the soldiers: You killed him! You killed him! Get an ambulance, quick! You’re murderers! You have no mercy! You’re racist! I felt myself cursing and swearing without really comprehending what was going on. They tried to calm me down.

Tamer Tamimi lying unconscious on the ground

Mahmoud Tamimi called for a Red Crescent ambulance, and a military medic came down from the nearby watchtower to examine Tamer. About 15 minutes later, military and Border Police vehicles arrived together with two Israeli ambulances. A Red Crescent ambulance also came. Apparently due to his condition, Tamer Tamimi was taken in an Israeli ambulance to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, inside Israel. He was kept there overnight. In his testimony, he said he woke up the next morning in the hospital to find two soldiers guarding him. He got an anti-tetanus shot and then the soldiers drove him in a civilian car to a junction near the Rantis checkpoint, where they dropped him off. Tamimi had to hitch two different rides to get to the entrance to a-Nabi Saleh. He said in his testimony:

At the entrance to the village, I saw the soldiers who had beaten me. One of them was up in the tower, and the other was down below. I heard the one up in the tower call to the soldier below: “Look who’s here. Look who’s here”. The soldier who was below looked at me and swore at me: “Tamimi you asshole, you fucker”. He laughed and made an obscene gesture. In the meantime, a cousin of mine was passing by. He stopped and took me home.
I got home exhausted. Because of the fast, and because I had lost consciousness, I had had nothing to eat or drink since the morning before, except for the water I got from my uncle Mahmoud when they detained us at the checkpoint at the entrance to a-Nabi Saleh. After I rested a little, I went to the hospital in Ramallah to have some tests done and see what my condition was.

At the hospital in Ramallah, doctors found the wound in Tamimi’s cheek was infected, and his arms badly bruised. He was given anti-inflammatory medication and discharged.

Tamer Tamimi by his taxi. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B’Tselem, 5 June 2017

Tamer Tamimi underwent serious and prolonged abuse for no reason. He was detained by soldiers twice in one day, beaten and wounded to the point of needing hospitalization, and his car was filled with tear gas. The arbitrary fashion in which soldiers can detain Palestinians at checkpoints for no apparent reason, demand they obey their orders, humiliate them and use violence against them is part of daily life for Palestinians living in the West Bank. Over the years, B’Tselem has documented many similar incidents of violence and abuse which could not have taken place without the soldiers’ knowing they would be backed up by senior government and military officials, including the Military Advocate General’s Corps, and that they would never be held accountable for their actions.

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Hebron City Center

Israeli soldiers attack and detain young Palestinian man transporting goods through checkpoint in downtown Hebron, as well as neighbors who come to his aid

On Sunday, 23 October 2022, at around 10:00 P.M., brothers Rajeh (24) and Bassem (21) a-Razem set out from their home in the Jaber neighborhood in the Hebron city center to deliver goods to the family store, which is located about 200 meters away. As they approached the Jaber checkpoint, the brothers saw several soldiers chasing youths from the neighborhood. Bassem got scared and ran back towards the house, while Rajeh kept walking towards the store. One of the soldiers suddenly approached Rajeh, pushed him, knocked him down and pressed his knee into his neck, choking him. More soldiers arrived. They handcuffed and blindfolded Rajeh and made him sit by the checkpoint. Bassem and Rajeh’s parents, who heard the commotion, rushed to the scene to rescue Rajeh, but the soldiers pushed them, swore at them and did not allow them to come near. The soldiers also attacked neighbors who came to the family’s aid, including: Ahmad Jaber (19), who was also handcuffed; his father, Minwer Jaber (48), who told the soldiers he was a member of the Palestinian security apparatus; and Minwer’s brother, Munzer Jaber (56), and his son Mu’taz (36). The soldiers also detained ‘Aref Jaber (48), who came to the spot to document the event. About half an hour later, an officer arrived at the checkpoint and released everyone except Rajeh, whom the soldiers held at the checkpoint, handcuffed and blindfolded, until 12:30 A.M. The Israeli media reported that two soldiers and an officer were suspended following the incident, which the IDF Chief of Staff described as a “a flagrant departure from IDF values.” Yet this case is no exception. It is part of the violent routine that is all too familiar to Palestinians in downtown Hebron – and throughout the West Bank. The only exception here was media exposure. Even then, how did the military choose to penalize soldiers who were documented verbally and physically assaulting Palestinians and falsely arresting one? By suspending them from operations. This is no mistake: the soldiers did not misinterpret orders and the Chief of Staff did not misunderstand the severity of the incident. It is Israel’s policy. B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari took testimonies on 25 October 2022 from some of the residents attacked: Rajeh a-Razem (24) from the a-Salaimeh neighborhood said: On 23 October 2022, at around 10:00 P.M., my father asked my brother Bassem and me to take goods to the store. Because we’re not allowed through the Jaber checkpoint by car, we have to transport goods with a small cart. We finished transporting the first batch and were taking the rest when we saw about four soldiers near the checkpoint yelling at some young guys on the street and chasing them. Bassem ran towards home, and I continued with the goods towards the checkpoint. Suddenly, one of the soldiers attacked me, knocked me down and sat on top of me, pressing his knee into my neck. He was choking me. Another soldier pointed his rifle at me. The soldiers asked me in Arabic about Bassem, who he was and why he ran away. I was afraid they’d hurt my brother, so I told them I didn’t know him, and then the soldier who was pointing his rifle at me shouted something in Hebrew that I didn’t understand. I told him I didn’t understand and he hit me, slapped me and shouted at me that I was a terrorist. The other soldier, who was still pressing his knee into my neck and choking me, also slapped me. Then, he pulled me to my feet and led me towards the checkpoint, where he tied my hands in front of me with zip ties, blindfolded me and made me sit in front of the checkpoint. Meanwhile, my parents arrived. I heard them talking to the soldiers. The soldiers were shouting at them and swearing at my mother. It sounded as if they were attacking my father, too. At some point they lifted me to my feet, dragged me a few steps and then made sit back down on the ground. I heard other people from the neighborhood shouting and it sounded like there was a struggle going on. I think the soldiers hit one of the residents, and I heard him tell them in English he was a police officer. I couldn’t see what was happening because I was blindfolded. They held me like that until about 12:30 A.M., and then they let me go and I went home. My family told me the soldiers had attacked Minwer Jaber and his family when they tried to help me. Ibtesam Jaber, a 37-year-old mother of six from the Jaber neighborhood, said: At around 10:30 P.M., my husband Minwer and I were at home. Suddenly, I heard shouting out on the street. Minwer went outside to see what was going on and our son Ahmad, who was woken by the shouting, followed him outside. I looked out the window and saw Rajeh a-Razem handcuffed and blindfolded. The soldiers had him sitting on the ground near the Jaber checkpoint. I saw his parents trying to get them to let him go, but the soldiers were pushing them and swearing at them. My husband came back inside to call the Palestinian DCO and get help for the young man. Meanwhile, I heard my son Ahmad shouting. Minwer rushed back out, barefoot. I saw three soldiers leading Ahmad to the checkpoint, hitting him as they went. They pulled the hood of his sweatshirt down over his face, tied his hands behind his back with zip ties and sat him down at the checkpoint, too. Afterwards, they pulled him and Rajeh to their feet and started dragging them, but Minwer blocked their path and asked why they were taking Ahmad, who had been asleep at home and had done nothing. One of the soldiers got angry and aggressive and said in Arabic that Ahmad was a Palestinian terrorist. The soldiers pushed my husband and ordered him to go home, but he refused to back off until they released both young men. One of the soldiers assaulted my husband and beat him. I yelled at them from the porch to let my husband and son go. One of the soldiers pointed his weapon at me, started swearing at me in Arabic and ordered me to go inside, while another soldier kept beating my husband. He pushed Minwer up against a wall, and his body and head got hit. Minwer shouted at the soldiers in English that he was a member of the security apparatus, but it didn’t help. In the meantime, my brother-in-law Munzer and his son Mu’taz came to help, but the soldiers attacked them too, handcuffed them and made them sit on the road. Ahmad Jaber (18) from the Jaber neighborhood said: I started heading downstairs to see what was going on, and before I even got to the street, three soldiers attacked me. One grabbed me by the shoulder, pulled the hood of my sweatshirt down over my face and started dragging me to the Jaber checkpoint, swearing at me and kicking me. He told me I was a Palestinian terrorist. Then he pushed me against the wall of a building. He started talking to me in Hebrew, and I didn’t understand what he wanted. Then he pulled my leg, knocked me down to the ground, trod on my legs and slammed my face into the wall. I heard my father’s voice and tried to raise my head, but the soldiers wouldn’t let me speak. They were very aggressive. The soldier punched and hit me several times on the head and kicked me. Then he tied my hands behind my back with zip ties and made me sit next to the checkpoint. A few minutes later, the soldiers pulled me and Rajeh up and led us a few steps on foot until my father blocked their way and asked why they were detaining us. The soldiers attacked my father, pushed him and ordered him to go home. He refused to back away, and then the soldiers started beating him. My mother shouted at the soldiers from the porch. One of the soldiers pointed his weapon at her and swore at her. Another soldier pushed my father against the wall, and he hit his head against it. My father shouted at the soldiers in English that he was a member of the security apparatus, but they didn’t stop. Meanwhile, my uncle Munzer and his son Mu’taz came to help, and the soldiers attacked them too. They handcuffed them and made them sit down next to the same building by the roadside. After about half an hour, an army officer arrived. He talked to us and let all of us go except Rajeh. A Palestinian ambulance arrived, and the crew gave my father first aid. He had bruises all over his body. Rajeh was only let go around 12:30 A.M. That evening, soldiers went up to our roof. They stayed there all night, making noise and disturbing our sleep.

17 November 2022

מגדל צבאי שהציב הצבא באחת הכניסות לעיירה סילוואד. צילום: איאד חדאד, בצלם, 27.8.16.

A Routine Founded on Violence

Occupation routine: Four soldiers abuse residents of Silwad for three weeks

The town of Silwad, which lies northwest of Ramallah, is home to some 10,000 people. For three weeks, from mid-November 2020, four soldiers who were apparently stationed at a military watchtower near the main entrance to the town abused residents daily, attacking and intimidating them. Among other things, they set up checkpoints at the entrances to the town, searched people entering and leaving it, swore at residents and assaulted them. The soldiers also roamed the town’s streets, hurling stun grenades, firing tear gas canisters and vandalizing vehicles. In one case, they shot and wounded a 16-year-old.A.N., an employee at the al-Juneidi factory near Silwad, spoke with B’Tselem’s field researcher and described what happened in the town during those weeks:The soldiers throw stun grenades and fire tear gas canisters at night. They use “rubber” bullets and even live bullets. They harass residents, wake up adults and children and disrupt our daily lives. The situation has become so bad that I can’t describe it. Before they came, my wife and I would walk to the nearby grocery store in the evening to buy groceries or milk for the children. But now we don’t go there anymore because we’re afraid to run into the soldiers, and because the store owner doesn’t open in the evening anymore. He closes shop early, before the soldiers come and start making a mess. It’s starting to feel like we’re under night curfew or house arrest. People are starting to feel that they’re losing their sense of security. It feels like chaos.For three weeks, four Israeli soldiers made the lives of Silwad residents miserable with no one to stop them. None of their superiors prevented the abuse. Based on years of experience, it is highly unlikely that any action will be taken against them retroactively, either. The painful fact is that their conduct serves the occupation regime and enables it to continue. After all, the only way to enforce this regime is to use force, while ensuring that no one will be held accountable — whether the perpetrators themselves or the entire regime.Below are testimonies collected by B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad regarding two grave incidents that took place during this period: the injuring of Ramzi Hamed (16) and the beating and humiliation of five employees of the al-Juneidi dairy products company who were on their way to work in the town:Ramzi Hamed injured, 28 November 2020:On Saturday, 28 November 2020, at around 8:30 P.M., Ramzi Hamed and ‘A.’A., two 16-year-old friends from Silwad, were on their way home from the town center. On the way, they encountered a group of boys who warned them there were soldiers further along the road. The two continued walking. After they had gone several dozen meters and were about 100 meters away from the soldiers, the latter fired a tear gas canister at them. The teens continued walking, and then the soldiers fired two more tear gas canisters. Immediately after that, one soldier fired two live rounds, one of which hit Hamed in the chest. Hamed and ‘A.’A. turned back instantly and a private car passing by took them to a local clinic. Within minutes, an ambulance picked them up from there and took them to hospital in Ramallah. About a week later, Hamed was discharged with the bullet still in his body.In a testimony he gave on 30 November 2020, Hamed recounted what happened that evening:I work at a barbershop in the town center. For the past two weeks, since the soldiers started standing at the western entrance to the town, I’ve been finishing working earlier, at around 7:00 or 8:00 P.M., because it’s not safe to walk around the town. On Saturday, I was waiting for my friend ‘A.’A. to walk home together, in case the soldiers provoked us.We set out at around 8:20 and saw a group of kids at the square. We asked them if something was going on and they said, “Those soldiers are by the gas station.” We didn’t take it seriously because the kids were sitting quietly, and we didn’t see anyone throwing stones. We decided to go ahead and thought that if the soldiers blocked our path, we’d tell them we were on our way home, which is nearby.We continued walking west on the road for several dozen meters. Suddenly, we saw the soldiers coming towards us. They fired a tear gas canister from about 100 meters away, and then another grenade that I think was a stun grenade. We kept walking, even though we were scared because there have been a lot of such incidents lately. We relied on the fact that the soldiers could see us and that we hadn’t done anything. We walked on for another several dozen meters. The three soldiers were wearing masks of some kind. Two of them were carrying rifles and the third was holding a club.Suddenly, for no reason, even though we’d done nothing suspicious, one of them fired two live bullets, one of which hit me in the chest. I realized I’d been hit because I felt nauseous and dizzy. I put my hand where I’d been hit and felt blood.I said to my friend, “I’ve been hit! I’ve been hit!” I tried to run away so the soldiers wouldn’t grab me, but after a few steps I almost fell over. My friend helped me and we kept running. I was running slowly and barely made it to the square, which is more than 50 meters away. When we got there, my friend stopped a private car that was passing and it took me to a clinic in the town. After I was checked and given first aid, an ambulance took me to hospital in Ramallah.Hamed was hospitalized in Ramallah for a week. Due to the sensitive location of the bullet in his chest, the doctors decided not to operate for the time being and left it inside.In a testimony he gave by phone to B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad on 20 December 2020, Hamed described his condition now: I’m constantly worried and stressed. I’m afraid that any movement I make will shift the bullet and endanger me. The fact that I have a bullet inside my body keeps the shooting always on my mind, and it’s one of my most horrible memories. It’s as if my life is intertwined with the bullet inside me. I missed the first semester’s mid-term exams and have a lot of schoolwork to catch up on. I haven’t gone back to school or online classes yet, because I’m still in a bad way, medically and mentally.Because of the injury, I can’t work as a barber’s assistant in the town, either. Since my father is unemployed and I’m the eldest son, the burden of providing for the family falls on me. I use to earn 50 to 70 shekels (~15-21 USD) a day. It was a minimum income that kept us from begging. I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to the job that I love and specialized in for two years, because I have to stand on my feet all day long. The injury has made me short of breath and I’m exposed to strong smells and perfumes at work. The problem is that we won’t be able to withstand several months without an income. I’m confused and desperate. I pray that God will help me. Two employees of the al-Juneidi company assaulted, 13 November 2020On 13 November 2020, at midnight, the four soldiers set up a checkpoint at the southern entrance to Silwad, detaining vehicles and randomly checking the passengers. In two separate incidents, within a short space of time, five employees of the al-Juneidi dairy products company arrived at the checkpoint and the soldiers assaulted and humiliated them. Among other things, they kicked and beat them, and damaged one worker’s vehicle.In a testimony he gave B’Tselem, A.’A (25) from Beit ‘Ur a-Tahta recalled:Late at night on Friday, 13 November 2020, I hitched a ride with my friend to work at the al-Juneidi factory in Silwad. I’ve been working there factory for six months. When we got to the ‘Ein Yabrud-Silwad bridge, we saw four soldiers blocking traffic at the intersection.The soldiers were standing next a military jeep, without masks. One of them motioned us to stop with a flashlight he was holding. Two of them stood in front of the car and blocked our way. We stopped and one of the soldiers ordered my friend to roll down the window. He did, and the soldier ordered him to roll down the rear window, too. He asked my friend in Hebrew, “Where are you from?” My friend answered, “Deir Jarir.” The soldier asked, “Do you speak Hebrew?” My friend said he didn’t. Then the soldier asked, “How come you don’t speak Hebrew? You answered when I asked you which village you were from.” At that point, he ordered my friend to switch the engine off and get out of the car. The soldiers didn’t ask us for our ID cards or anything else.My friend got out of the car and two of the soldiers made him stand next to it. One of them was tall and skinny, with dark skin and a medium-length beard. The other was blond and short. They told me to turn my head around and not look. Then they went over to my friend and I heard him say to one of them, “Talk to me in Arabic. Don’t talk to me in Hebrew.” I heard one of the soldiers order him to place his hands on the car, and then the soldier with the short beard started hitting him between the legs, patting him down and searching him. The soldier spoke to him in Hebrew, and my friend told him, “Talk to me in Arabic. I don’t speak Hebrew." The soldier said, “Okay, so how come you understood when I asked you where you lived? You understood me.” My friend said, ”I happened by chance to understand.” The soldier kept repeating, “Do you speak Hebrew or not.”Then the blond one took out a telescopic baton and opened it to scare us. He ordered my friend to get back in the car and ordered me to get out. He told me to stand facing the car with my hands up and my legs spread. He demanded that I spread them further, even after I couldn’t anymore. Then he started hitting me in the legs. He patted me down and found a pen I had on me. He asked, “What’s this? and I said, “It’s a pen.” I tried to take it out, but he told me to keep my hands in the air and I obeyed. He asked me, “How old are you? and I told him. Then he hit me really hard in the waist with the baton. The other soldier, the bearded one, joined in and started kicking me hard in the groin. My testicles hurt. After that, the blond soldier hit me on the back of the neck with his rifle butt, and it really hurt.The blond soldier started asking me, “Where’s your weapon?” I told him, “I don’t have a weapon.” He said, “Where’s the gun?” I answered, “Man, where would I get a gun? Do you see people with guns here every day?” Then he him me again on the right side of my waist with the metal baton. I felt like I’d been tazed and fell down, it hurt so much. I writhed in pain and couldn’t speak at all.It was after midnight, and if we’d tried to argue or even ask them why they were attacking us, they would have abused us even more. The soldier ordered me to get back in the car and told us to leave. We drove to the factory and told the other workers what had happened to us. They called our colleagues who were on their way and warned them not to take the same route. Later, I understood that they had also encountered the soldiers. From the description they gave, it sounded like the same soldiers.I started working at the factory six months ago, and this is the first time something like this has happened to me. I suffered from pain in my waist for 10 days from the beating.S.Z. (24) from Hebron works at the al-Juneidi factory in SilwadOn 13 November 2020, around midnight, I was driving with my friends, B.M. and his brother S.M. to our job in the Silwad branch of the al-Juneidi company. I was driving the company car. When we reached the Silwad-‘Ein Yabrud bridge under Route 60, about 200 meters away from the factory, four soldiers blocked our way. They were armed and weren’t wearing masks. One of them was tall and skinny, with a thin beard and dark skin, and then the other was short with a medium build, blond hair and blue eyes. I don’t remember the other two.They motioned us to stop, and then the tall one approached us. First, he ordered B., who was sitting next to me, to get out of the car. B. got out and the soldier asked him why he’d been throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. B. of course answered that he hadn’t thrown anything. Then the soldier started kicking him and hitting him with his rifle butt. B. screamed and yelled and repeated that he hadn’t thrown anything. Three of the soldiers beat him for several minutes and then ordered him to get back in the car. He got back in, exhausted and in pain. When the tall soldier saw his difficulty getting into the car, he grabbed him by the shirt, shook him and asked him again why he’d been throwing stones. B. told him, “I’m going to work,\ and I don’t throw stones.” The soldier let him be and ordered S. to get out of the car. He got out, and it repeated itself — they accused him of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, and he denied it. They slammed his head against the windshield, and he screamed. It went on like that for about five or six minutes, and then they ordered him to get back in the car.Then it was my turn. The tall soldier stepped over to my side and tried to pull me out of the car through the window. I opened the door and it hit him in the leg. He ordered me to get out, and then he told me to raise my hands and spread my legs. He started kicking me until I fell over. Every time I fell, he ordered me to get up again, asking the same questions and swearing at me. After about two minutes, he told me, “Listen, you’re from Hebron. We want to fuck you.” Then he ordered me to get back in the car and leave. I drove for about 30 meters, and the soldiers ran after us. They reached us and banged on the rear window with their rifles. Luckily, they didn’t break it but only damaged the chassis. The soldier asked me why I’d driven off, and I said they’d ordered me to go. He said, “Enough. Don’t repeat it.” Then they left.We drove to the warehouse, where we met other workers who told us the soldiers had also blocked their way and beaten them near the southern entrance to Silwad. By the sound of their description, it was the same soldiers.

2 February 2021

Open-Fire Policy

The Elimination Project

Since the current Israeli government took office at the end of 2022, and even more so since October 2023, Israel has dramatically escalated its assault on all aspects of Palestinian life in the West Bank. At any moment, Palestinians may be exposed to violence by soldiers or armed settler militias, arrested and imprisoned, subjected to abuse and humiliation, and sometimes even killed.The Elimination Project draws on more than 2,000 testimonies B’Tselem collected from Palestinians since October 2023 and over three decades of documenting the Israeli apartheid regime’s human rights abuses in the West Bank. The report looks at the current reality not as a collection of isolated incidents or specific harms, but as part of a comprehensive mechanism of elimination that works to dismantle the conditions for continued Palestinian existence in the West Bank, while deepening Jewish control and supremacy in an irreversible manner. An examination of the current reality in the West Bank reveals that the project of elimination is now being implemented more openly, directly and violently than before, and increasingly relies on cooperation between official state authorities and settler militias operating in the West Bank with state backing and support.

14 September 2026