On Monday, 17 December 2020, at around 8:00 A.M., Border Police and Special Patrol Unit (SPU) forces entered Qalandiya Refugee Camp, which is mostly located in the Palestinian Authority, outside Jerusalem's municipal boundaries. The forces turned towards the Hamad family home, where ten members live. Some of the officers spread out in the nearby streets and others on rooftops, and about 10 SPU officers entered the family’s home with a dog. They attacked Nasrallah Hamad (15) and locked the rest of the family in separate rooms. The officers then conducted a search of the house, during which they broke two doors and tore up furniture upholstery. About half an hour later, the officers left, taking two family members, Muhammad (28) and Mu’az (21).
While the officers were in the house and after their departure, residents of the camp hurled stones and heavy objects at them. Several police snipers opened live fire, including 0.22-inch caliber bullets (two-twos), at residents in the camp — without distinguishing between those who took part in the clashes and passers-by — injuring four people. ‘Ali Hamad (25) was hit in the abdomen while on the family’s roof after the police arrested his two brothers; Ahmad Rum (29) was shot in the chest as he stood at an intersection near the Hamad family home; ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Qader (16) was hit in the hip near his grandmother’s house, about 100 meters from the Hamad home; and Muhammad Khalil (47) was hit in the leg below the knee as he tried to help the wounded ‘Abd al-Qader. Another resident was wounded by shrapnel. According to media reports, six officers were injured lightly.
The violent raid the police conducted at the Hamad family home, which included assaulting one of its sons, breaking down doors, imprisoning the occupants, and destroying property, cannot be justified. Neither can the massive shooting by the officers who, according to the police, “felt their lives were in danger, opened fire and used crowd control weapons.” Yet, this explanation does not reconcile with the incident's circumstances, as B’Tselem’s investigation indicates. Armed officers in protective gear used live fire inside a crowded residential neighborhood, shooting bystanders and residents and injuring five people. Such shooting is also unjustifiable.
In this case, as in hundreds of others, no one will be held accountable for the violence meted on the family or the wanton shooting — neither those who committed the acts nor the various officials up the chain of command or the legal advisors who sign off on such operations time and again.
B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad collected the following testimonies.
‘Ula Hamad (47), the matriarch, described the police officers’ violent raid on her home, the arrest of two of her sons, and the injuring of a third son:
On Monday, 7 December 2020, at around 8:00 A.M., I was asleep. Suddenly, I woke up from my son Nasrallah’s shouting from his room, “Mom, Mom.” I got up out of bed in alarm and heard police officers in the house. I got dressed quickly, woke up my husband, and went to my son’s room. There were about 10 officers there, armed and wearing black uniforms and protective gear with helmets and black masks. You could hardly see their eyes. They had a huge, muzzled dog that looked terrifying.
Several of them pinned my son down to the floor. Poor Nasrallah was screaming and crying for help. He told me, “Mom, they’re hitting me. Mom, Mom.” I thought I was going mad. How can four armed men attack a child like that? I yelled at them, “What you’re doing is shameful. What did he even do? He’s a child.” I tried to release him from their hands, but they pushed me away at gunpoint. Only after I started begging did they agree to release him.
Meanwhile, other officers arrested two of my older sons. Then they forced me, my husband, my daughters, and my mother-in-law two into one of the rooms. Through a slit in the door, I could see the officers destroying the doors of two rooms and heard them throwing some furniture to the floor. After they left, I saw that they’d torn the upholstery of nine seats in the living room furniture.
About 20 minutes later, they left the house, taking away my sons, Muhammad and Mu’az, with their hands tied behind their backs. I tried to leave the room to stop them from arresting my sons and yelled at the officers, “Shame on you! Where are you taking them? What did they do?” But the officer who was by the door pushed me inside and blocked me from going out.
After they left, I ran after the officers to the building's front door, but I stepped back because some of them were firing live rounds at stone-throwers outside. When I went back up the stairs, I saw my son ‘Ali (25) bent over with his hand on his stomach. He said, “I’ve been hit. I’ve been hit in the stomach.” I lifted his hand to see where he’d been injured. He was bleeding slightly. I later understood from him that he had gone up to the roof to see where the officers were taking his brothers, and then he got hit by a bullet one of the officers fired at him. We took ‘Ali out to my husband’s car, which was parked in a nearby yard, while the officers were still clashing with stone-throwers who were several dozen meters away from us.
We drove ‘Ali to the Mujama Falastin Medical Center in Ramallah. We got there in less than 10 minutes. After a checkup at the ER, they took him in for an operation that lasted more than three hours. According to the doctors, his injury was severe. The bullet had penetrated his stomach, and they had to take out part of his intestines. The doctors tried to reassure us and told us that we don’t need to fear for his life. He was discharged, and now he’s recuperating at home, but he hasn’t gone back to his job yet, which helped us cover some of our living expenses.
Ahmad Rum (29), a shared taxi driver from Ramallah, arrived at the refugee camp at 8:30 A.M., parked his vehicle, and advanced on foot to meet a friend. While he was standing at an intersection near the Hamad family home, he was injured by a 0.22-inch caliber bullet in the chest.
In his testimony, he recounted:
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Ahmad Rum with stitches in his abdomen after being operated on. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B’Tselem, 15 Dec. 2020
I parked my car and advanced carefully on foot into the camp to meet a friend. There were clashes near the Hamad family home between several young guys who were throwing stones from an alley, from behind the corners of homes and rooftops. Police officers were firing live rounds and “rubber” bullets at them. I could see two or three Border Police officers near the Hamad family home from where I was standing. About 10 more people were standing and watching from several dozen meters away. Suddenly, I felt something like a sting on the left side of my chest. I didn’t hear a shot. I only felt the bullet hitting me. Then I started bleeding and felt nauseous.
A few young guys who were near me picked me up and carried me for 30 to 40 meters and put me in a private car that took me straight to Mujama Falastin Medical Center in Ramallah. There were already three or four injured people from the camp in the ER. I underwent surgery that lasted for about two hours, and then I was transferred to the surgical ward for further treatment. Apparently, the bullet that hit me was fired from top to bottom and exited from the left hip. I was discharged five days later on Saturday night. I’m not working right now because I can’t walk. My job supported my family of seven. It’s still unclear what the injury’s consequences will be, and I’m anxious about the future.
‘Ali ‘Abd al-Qader (16), a camp resident and 11th-grade student, returned to Qalandiya R.C. at around 8:30 A.M. after going to his school and discovering that classes had been canceled due to the coronavirus. When he was near the Khalil family’s bakery, a police sniper shot him in the thigh. Immediately after his injury, one of the bakery workers, Muhammad Khalil (47), came out and tried to help him get away, but he too was shot by a sniper, who hit him below the knee.
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‘Ali ‘Abd al-Qader after his release from the hospital. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B’Tselem, 15 Dec. 2020
In his testimony, ‘Abd al-Qader recalled:
At 8:30 A.M., when I was close to my grandmother’s house and the bakery, I felt a very sharp sting in my thigh. I understood that I’d been hit in the middle of the right hip. I was terrified, bleeding a lot, and started screaming, “I’ve been hit, I’ve been hit.” I didn’t hear the gunshot and didn’t see the officer who injured me, but I think it was one of the officers in the street in front of the Hamad family home, about 80 meters away from me.
I tried to run back towards the bakery to ask for help but fell down after a few steps and couldn’t move my leg. Muhammad Khalil came towards me from his bakery, which is about 10 meters from the spot where I’d been hit. He picked me up to help me, but suddenly, he was also hit by a bullet in the leg. I didn’t hear the shot that time, either. Several young guys and a paramedic who were nearby helped us get into a private car. The paramedic, who rode with us, wrapped a piece of cloth over my wound to stop the bleeding.
In his testimony, Muhammad Khalil also described what happened:
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Muhammad Khalil at the hospital. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B’Tselem, 7 Dec. 2020
As the forces were on their way out of the camp, I looked out from the bakery and heard sounds of live rounds and “two-two” bullets. I saw ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Qader running and limping on one foot in my direction. He was bleeding and injured in the thigh. I went out of the bakery to help him. I advanced several meters, reached him, and supported him. At the same time, there was an officer near the Hamad family home about 80 meters away from me. While I was holding the wounded boy, I was hit in the left leg under the knee by a “two-two” bullet. I didn’t fall, and I kept trying to help the boy, but I couldn’t hold him anymore. A paramedic from the neighborhood reached us and helped me lift ‘Ali. We managed to get away from the officers’ firing range and hid in a corner until a private car took us to the Mujama Falastin Medical Center. When we got there, they took us straight to the ER, where they gave me an IV, disinfected the wound, and bandaged it. In the evening, I underwent surgery to repair the tendons and nerves damaged by the shooting. I was discharged six days later.
At the hospital, it turned out that ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Qader’s femoral artery had been severed and that he was suffering from muscle tears and damage to the femoral nerves. He underwent surgery on his leg and was released six days later but may need further surgery to reconstruct the nerves and tendons.
In his testimony, he further recounted:
Now I’m bedridden and can’t move without help. The principal said they would consider my situation and organize online learning for me after I recover. I used to help out at my aunt’s restaurant, but now I can’t work anymore. My father passed away about nine years ago. I’m the eldest son and the only one who can work and support the family. We’re four people in our family, and we now receive support from relatives and social organizations. I don’t know how we’re going to manage and how long we can go on like this.
During the days of fighting in the Gaza Strip, residents of the villages of Bil'in and Kafr Ni'ma held several demonstrations in protest of the war in Gaza, the violence at the al-Aqsa Mosque, and the planned evictions in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. In the first two demonstrations, on 10 May 2021 and 15 May 2021, soldiers standing on the other side of the Separation Barrier west of the village fired live ammunition at the protesters as soon as they reached the barrier and dispersed the demonstration from the very beginning. In the protest held on 15 May 2021, soldiers also used rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters, injuring a 14-year-old boy in the leg with live fire. On Tuesday, 18 May 2021, a third demonstration took place. At around 4:00 P.M., about half an hour before the convoy left the village center, a group of about 15 to 20 villagers, mostly children and teens, came to an area by the Separation Barrier. Some of them brought tires to burn during the protest, while others threw stones with a slingshot at two soldiers standing on a hill on the other side of the barrier, about 100 to 150 meters away from them. One of the soldiers fired a tear gas canister at the youths and fired in the air. Several officers stood about 150 meters north of the two soldiers, near a military jeep. Furthermore, in front of the area where the protesters were standing, about 20 to 30 meters away from the Separation Barrier, stood a tent where two soldiers were hiding. At around 5:00 P.M., when the first protesters from the village center arrived in the area, the two soldiers suddenly emerged from the tent. They immediately opened fire at a group of four protesters who were about 40 meters away from them. Some of the protesters dropped to the ground, and others hid behind trees. A few seconds later, the protesters got up to throw stones at the soldiers who came out of the tent, and then one soldier fired at them, hitting Islam Dar Nasser (16), who was masked, in the back of the head. Several protesters tried to evacuate Dar Nasser, but the soldier continued firing at them. He was evacuated only after a few minutes to an ambulance standing a few hundred meters away. Dar Nasser was rushed to hospital in Ramallah, where doctors performed CPR on him, transferred him to an operating room, and pronounced him dead about an hour and a half later. The soldiers the military had placed in the ambush used live fire even though the protesters posed no danger. They initially fired at residents who were throwing stones at other soldiers from a great distance without endangering them, and, after being exposed, fired at 16-year-old Islam Dar Nasser, who was throwing stones from about 40 meters away, without endangering any of their lives. Placing soldiers in ambush – a few dozen meters on the other side of the Separation Barrier – and using lethal live fire against stone-throwers is not a legitimate course of action. The fatal shots at Dar Nasser's head were also illegal, as live fire is permissible only in cases where there is a real and immediate danger to life and when other means of removing it have been exhausted. The shooting in this case is but another expression of the Israeli military's open-fire policy in the Occupied Territories, in which any threat, real or imagined, is met with deadly live fire. According to media reports, an MPIU investigation has been launched. Yet, as B'Tselem has learned from years of experience, this investigation will wind up drawn out and shut down, as its purpose is whitewashing the killing and its result is the continued lethal firing at Palestinians. A.Y, a 19-year-old resident of Bil'in, came to the area of the demonstration at around 4:30 P.M. In a testimony he gave B'Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad, he described what happened next: : I sat with a group of about 15 youths and waited for the protesters. At around 5:00 P.M., the first protesters started coming to the area above us, and then we went up to the barrier. I saw Islam there with a group of young guys and children but didn't recognize him because his head was covered with a shirt. They were throwing stones with their hands and a slingshot at soldiers standing on the hill, but none of the stones reached them because they were 100 to 150 meters away. I also saw a tent under a large tree, beyond the barrier, about 30 meters south of the children. There are usually soldiers in this tent who disperse the protesters, but it was closed and didn't seem to have soldiers in it. About 15 minutes later, I was with Islam and two other young guys about 15 to 20 meters away from the fence. One of the soldiers on the nearest hill was moving his rifle from side to side. Suddenly, I heard S., one of the young guys who were with me, shouting, "Ambush! Ambush! From the tent!". He barely finished talking, and immediately several shots were fired in a row by two or three soldiers who suddenly came out of the tent. Some of us hid behind the trees, and others dropped to the ground. Islam and S. were five meters away from me, towards the tent. The soldiers were in a lower place than us, so they couldn't hit anyone lying on the ground. After the first burst, the shooting stopped for a few seconds. Islam and the others apparently thought that the soldiers had returned to the tent, and they got up. Suddenly, the soldiers near the tent fired a bullet that hit Islam's head from behind. He fell down right away, didn’t make a sound, and didn't move. In a testimony he gave B'Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad on 26 May 2021, S.S. (23), a resident of Bil'in, recounted what happened that afternoon: When Islam was killed, I was by his side. We were four young guys. We stood about 20 meters away from the barrier. At 5:15 P.M., I saw two soldiers leaving the tent beyond the barrier. I started shouting, "Ambush! Ambush!" to warn the others so they'd have time to escape. The soldiers fired two or three shots, and we all dropped to the ground or hid behind the trees. Then we got up to throw stones at the soldiers, and then one of the soldiers fired two more consecutive shots. At that moment, Islam was in their firing range, but he didn't see them. He was hit in the head from behind and fell without making a sound. I heard him taking one deep breath and then his body went limp. I dropped to the ground again and crawled over to him to pick him up and take him to the ambulance, but the soldiers fired again. The soldier on the hill also fired at the protesters and at us to stop them from advancing. His bullets hit the rocks next to us. After a few minutes, the shooting stopped, and I could come near and pick up Islam. I carried him in my arms because he didn't weigh much. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and after a few steps, other guys took him from me. I didn't go on with them since my legs gave out because I was so scared and confused. They took Islam to an ambulance, and I fell to the ground and burst into tears. Several guys continued confronting the soldiers, and they continued firing intermittently, only live fire. In a testimony she gave B'Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad, Islam's mother, Janat Dar Nasser (36), recalled: On the night before the protest march, Islam asked me if I'd attend. I didn't want to disappoint him and answered we would go for sure. He loved participating in these marches because he'd see friends, and they'd spend time together. That night, Islam spent time with us until late and woke up the next day at 10:00 A.M. He came to the kitchen and helped me make breakfast. He loved cooking and especially making French fries that he and his little brothers like. One of his dreams was to become a famous chef. He always asked me to call him Chef Islam. I was happy about that, and it made me laugh a lot because boys his age always want to become ordinary things like doctors, engineers, pharmacists, and accountants. It's rare to hear of someone like him dreaming of becoming a skilled chef. After breakfast, he wanted to help me clean up, but I refused and asked him to go get ready for his final exams. Islam pressured me to leave early for the march, and in the end, he left the house at 2:30 P.M. Around 5:00, while the kids and I were getting ready to leave for the march, my brother Rani's wife arrived. Rani has been suffering from partial paralysis since the Israeli military wounded him during a protest in 2000. She was confused and worried and asked me to help her prepare his wheelchair and car because he wanted to get to Ramallah quickly. I suspected something was wrong and pressured her to find out what happened exactly. I had a feeling that something bad had happened to Islam or someone else in the family. But she wouldn't tell me. While we were preparing the wheelchair, my nephew Mahmoud (12) arrived. He was crying and said that Islam had been hit in the head and that he'd been taken to a hospital in Ramallah. I went into shock. I started screaming and crying, "My son Islam, my darling. What happened to you? Where are you? God save you, my son. God have mercy. I have nothing but him in the world." Janat drove to the hospital with a relative, where she waited to hear about her son, who was in the operating room. In her testimony, she further recounted: At around 6:30-7:00 P.M., Islam was transferred to the ICU. While I was waiting for reassuring news about his condition, I was informed that he had been killed. I collapsed. I felt like I was blacking out. The doctors and my family gave me sedatives, and I slowly came to. I said goodbye to my son in the cold chamber. He looked like he was smiling at me as usual and saying to me, "Don't take it to heart, Mom. Don't cry. I love you very much. Watch over my brothers and take care of them." I prayed that he would receive Heaven's mercy and forgiveness. We're a small family, and our financial situation is tough, but we dreamt of raising our children, giving them a good education and providing everything that wasn't possible for us. We wanted them to study in good schools, to ensure they have a better future and a less miserable and exhausting life. My son Islam was killed before he could fulfill his dreams. We hoped to see him grow up, study, fulfill his aspirations to become a chef and help his father support the family. I feel like there's no point in my life anymore. I feel alone in this world, without hope, without aspirations, and without a future. I quit my job, and now I sit at home, drained. I find a place to be alone and cry. The state of Islam's father and brothers is no better. They're all in heavy mourning. Since the incident, I've been having trouble sleeping. I move between the rooms and touch his bed, closet, and anything he left behind: clothes, games, books, and things he bought for himself. I remember every happy moment we had together with everything I touch, his sweet smiles, his laughter, and the beautiful things he said. Update: On 18 November 2021, media reports stated that the case was still under investigation. On 1 June 2022, the IDF Spokesperson informed B’Tselem that the case was still under investigation
Since the beginning of May 2020, B’Tselem has documented five incidents in which soldiers lay in wait for Palestinians trying to enter Israel for work through gaps in the Separation Barrier near Far’on, a village south of Tulkarm. In four cases, the soldiers shot the workers and injured five of them. In the other case, the soldiers beat a 15-year-old until his arm broke and he suffered abdominal hemorrhaging. In most of the cases, the soldiers then treated the wounded and an Israeli ambulance took them to the nearby al-Kafriyat checkpoint, where soldiers took photographs of them and of their ID cards. They were then transferred to a Red Crescent ambulance, which took them to hospital in Tulkarm. Thousands of Palestinian laborers enter Israel every day without permits, as they have no other choice. For many, obtaining a permit requires overcoming a series of insurmountable obstacles that Israel has instated as a matter of policy while also preventing the development of an independent Palestinian economy. Since the coronavirus broke out, Israel has imposed additional restrictions on laborers wishing to enter Israel, such as reducing the number of permits issued and requiring workers who enter to stay in Israel for lengthy periods without going home. The state is well aware of this reality and benefits from the cheap, disempowered workforce. Shooting Palestinians who try to cross the barrier is not a new practice, nor is it unique to the area of Far’on, as B’Tselem’s documentation shows. In the last three months of 2019 alone, in the same district, soldiers shot at the legs of at least 17 Palestinians trying to enter Israel through gaps in the barrier, and fired a rubber-coated metal bullet at the legs of another. There is no way to justify beating a minor or shooting at the legs of laborers who are not endangering a soul. The soldiers who did this were lying in wait, knowing full well where Palestinians would try to cross the barrier, awaiting the moment they could injure them. An important point is that this practice is not the choice of a single soldier, but part of a well-oiled policy. That is why no one will be held accountable for this latest series of incidents, either – for opening fire on the ground or for leading the policy that allowed it. B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi collected testimonies from area residents, some of whom were injured by the shooting. Soldiers severely beat 15-year-old, breaking his arm and causing abdominal bleeding, 7 May 2020 On Thursday morning, 7 May 2020, at around 6:30 A.M., two cousins from the village of Far’on – A.Y., 15, and L.F., 18 – planned to cross through an opening in the barbed wire that makes up the section of the Separation Barrier in the area, in order to search for temporary work in Israel. They were standing on the eastern side of the barrier, watching the spot, when a jeep drove up and stopped on the security road, about 15 meters away. Three soldiers got out, shouted at the youths to stop and fired several shots in the air. L.F. managed to run towards the village, but A.Y. fell. The soldiers ran over to him and one started to kick him, while the other hit him with a rifle butt. A.Y. blacked out for a few minutes, and the soldiers stood around him. At that point, several residents who had witnessed the incident came over and carried A.Y. to a resident’s car, with no objection by the soldiers. The resident drove A.Y. home, and from there to Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarm together with two family members. Examinations and X-rays found abdominal hemorrhaging and a fractured right arm. A.Y. remained in intensive care until 12 May, when he was transferred to the pediatric surgery ward. He was discharged on 14 May. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi on 9 May 2020, A.Y. described the attack: On 7 May 2020, my cousin and I were planning to cross through the fence to find temporary work in Israel for the day, so we could afford new holiday clothes. We got to the fence around 6:30 in the morning and stopped a few meters away. Suddenly, a military jeep drove up and three soldiers got out. They started shooting and yelling at us to stop. I was terrified, especially when I saw they were chasing us. I got a real fright. My cousin and I started running east, towards the village, but after three or four steps I tripped over a stone and fell flat on my face. It hurt a lot. I started shouting and couldn’t move or breathe. My cousin managed to get away, but the soldiers caught up with me. While I was still lying face down, one of them kicked me in the back and another hit me in my right shoulder with the butt of his rifle. I was in so much pain from the fall and the beating that I didn’t know what was happening around me. I blacked out. The resident who came over and drove A.Y. away in his car described what he witnessed: I saw a military jeep screech to a halt near one of the gaps in the fence. Three soldiers got out. They shouted at the young guys, ordered them to stop and fire live rounds in the air. I was about 30-40 meters away from the gap. I saw the two young guys run. One of them got away, but the other tripped over some rocks and fell. I saw the soldiers reach him. I had gotten out of my car at that point to watch. Later, I learned that the guy who fell down was called A.Y.. I started making my way over to him. He was lying on the ground, surrounded by soldiers. A few other young guys joined me. We picked him up and helped him get to my car. The soldiers didn’t object. I drove A.Y. home. He was crying and screaming in pain the whole time. When we got there, his mother and brother got in the car and I drove them to Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarm. Then I went home. Not only assault, but live fire: Soldiers lying in wait by gap in barrier shoot.’I.H in the leg, 3 May 2020: On Sunday morning, 3 May 2020, at around 6:45 A.M., three Palestinians from the village of Dhinnaba in Tulkarm District arrived at an agricultural gate in the barrier west of the village of Far’on. The three, W.H, 55, and his two adult sons, have agricultural permits to enter their land, which lies west of the barrier. Soldiers were supposed to open the gate at 7:00 A.M., but none arrived. At 7:30, the three men gave up and decided, along with other Palestinians waiting there, to try and cross the barrier through a nearby opening. As soon as they did so, soldiers lying in ambush opened live fire at them with no prior warning. They shot one of the sons,.’I.H, 31, in the right leg. An Israeli ambulance took him to the nearby al-Kafriyat checkpoint, and from there a Red Crescent ambulance drove him to Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarm. The soldiers did not allow his father and brother to go with him and ordered them to leave. In a testimony he gave a B’Tselem field researcher over the phone,’I.H, a married father of four, related: We waited for the soldiers, who were supposed to come and open the gate at 7:00. Meanwhile, four other people joined us. By 7:30, the soldiers hadn’t arrived and we decided to enter the ‘seam zone’ through an opening in the fence near the agricultural gate. I went first. I managed to cross the fence and take a step or two before I noticed two soldiers hiding among the olive trees west of the fence, about 10-15 meters away. One of them fired four or five shots and one of the bullets hit my left foot. I fell down. One of the soldiers shouted at us to stop, and everyone stopped and stood still. The two soldiers came over to me and one of them gave me first aid. In less than two minutes, an Israeli ambulance showed up and I was treated on the spot. Then the ambulance took me to al-Kafriyat checkpoint, where the soldiers took photographs of me and of my ID card. A Palestinian ambulance that was waiting there took me to hospital in Tulkarm, where they examined and X-rayed me and took the bullet out of my foot. I was sent home three days later, with my foot in a cast. Soldiers lying in wait near gap in barrier shoot I.’A. in the leg, 7 May 2020: On Thursday morning, 7 May 2020, at around 6:00 A.M., I.’A., a 39-year-old building contractor and married father of four from Tulkarm Refugee Camp, went to the agricultural gate near Far’on. As his entry permit required that he stay in Israel throughout the month of Ramadan, he decided not to use it, but rather try and enter Israel through one of the openings in the barrier where several dozen Palestinians were waiting. After he crossed through, soldiers lying in ambush on the other side opened fire at him with no effective warning, and injured his right leg. An Israeli ambulance then took.I.’A. to al-Kafriyat checkpoint, where soldiers took photographs of him and of his ID card. From there, a Red Crescent ambulance took him to Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarm. In a testimony he gave on 9 May 2020, I.’A. recounted what happened: I went over to one of the gaps in the fence and saw dozens of workers waiting to go through. I climbed through the concertina wire and the fence, walked a few steps and reached the security road. Suddenly, two soldiers came out from among the olive trees. They fired one shot in the air and another that hit me in the right calf, below the knee. I felt searing pain and fell down. I didn’t hear them shout any warning. The two soldiers, one of whom was masked, came over to me. Then other soldiers arrived. One of them told another soldier, in Hebrew, to handcuff me. I showed them my new permit and they didn’t cuff me. One of them tried to stop the bleeding from my leg. Another soldier called for an ambulance, which showed up a minute or two later. I was given first aid and after about ten to fifteen minutes, the ambulance took me to al-Kafriyat checkpoint, where soldiers took photos of me and of my ID card. Then a Palestinian ambulance that was waiting for me took me to hospital in Tulkarm. At the hospital, they examined me and put my whole leg in a cast, from thigh to foot. Three hours later, at my request, they transferred me to a private hospital in Tulkarm. I was discharged from there in the evening, with orders to rest and not stand on the leg. Soldiers lying in ambush near barrier opening shoot S.S. and H.Q. in the legs, 10 May 2020: On Sunday morning, 10 May 2020, at around 7:00 A.M., two Palestinians crossed through an opening in the barrier: S.S., 21, from Tulkarm, and his uncle H.Q., 58, from al-Far’a h Refugee Camp northeast of Nablus. When the two men reached the security road between the fences, soldiers emerged from among olive trees west of the barrier and fired shots at them, injuring both men in the legs. In this case, too, the men were given first aid by the soldiers, taken by Israeli ambulance to al-Kafriyat checkpoint, where soldiers photographed them and their ID cards, and then taken by a Red Crescent ambulance to Thabet Thabet hospital in Tulkarm. In a testimony he gave on 20 May 2020, S.S. related: I went first. I crossed through one of the openings and got to the middle of the security road. My uncle followed me. I didn’t see any soldiers in the area until suddenly, about four bullets were fired at us with no warning or any shouts to stop. I was hit in the left ankle and near the right knee. I didn’t see the soldiers who fired the shots, but after the shooting I heard them about ten or fifteen meters away. I ran a few meters and fell down. Immediately, about six soldiers gathered around me and one of them tried to stop the bleeding with pieces of cloth. I was losing a lot of blood and in incredible pain. I couldn’t stand. The soldiers lay my uncle down next to me, and I saw he’d been hit in the leg too. A few minutes later, the soldiers carried us on stretchers to the Far’on agricultural gate, about 100 meters away. Within five minutes, an Israeli ambulance arrived and the team gave us first aid and drove us to al-Kafriyat checkpoint. There, soldiers took photos of us and of our ID cards, and a Red Crescent ambulance took us to hospital in Tulkarm. At the hospital, the doctors examined and X-rayed me. They found the bullet’s entry and exit wounds in my left leg and an injury under my right knee. My uncle had a bullet lodged under his right knee. I was in the hospital for about six hours, and then they discharged me with medication and referred me for further treatment at the orthopedic department. I’m currently not working and using crutches to get around the house.
On Thursday evening, 20 February 2020, around 8:30 P.M., four 15-year-olds from the Palestinian village of Deir Dobwan, located east of Ramallah, drove west to the village of Beitin. The driver was Seif-a-Din ‘Awawdeh, who works in a nearby garage. The teens passed through a tunnel under Route 60, and after about 200 meters spotted an Israeli military jeep coming from the direction of Beitin, driving against the traffic in the same lane as them. Seif-a-Din tried to make a U-turn to avoid collision but couldn’t complete it in time and crashed into a row of boulders by the opposite (left) lane. The car stopped facing Deir Dobwan, with the jeep behind it. At that moment, soldiers got out of the jeep and opened fire, first in the air and then at the car. Muhammad Sarma, who was seated in the backseat, was hit in the thigh and back. After a few seconds, the soldiers stopped firing and approached the car. They opened the doors and hit Seif-a-Din and D.H., who was sitting behind him, and then pulled them out of the car and continued to beat them. The soldiers also pulled the injured Sarma out of the car and a few minutes later, another military vehicle arrived and took him away. The fourth teen, Mahmoud ‘Awawdeh, who was sitting next to Seif-a-Din, was hit in the pelvis, apparently from shrapnel. The soldiers ordered him to get out of the car and sat him by the side of the road. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad on 22 February 2020, Seif-a-Din recounted: “My friends and I went out for a ride from Deir Dobwan to buy some things and hang out together. We passed the bridge between Deir Dobwan and Beitin, and when we were about 200 meters from it, I suddenly saw a military vehicle coming from Beitin. It was about 20-30 meters away and driving towards us in my lane. I was confused, so I made a U-turn in the left lane to avoid them, but there wasn’t enough room and I hit some big boulders that were put along the side of the road to stop cars from driving off. Immediately after the collision, the military vehicle stopped and blocked off the road and the soldiers got out. They stood a few meters behind our car, very close to us, and opened fire. They fired more than 20 rounds, some in the air and some at the car. It went on for several seconds. We ducked down because we were really frightened. I told myself, “This is it, we’re dead”. I covered my head with my hands to defend myself. From the moment the shooting started I heard Muhammad, who was sitting in the backseat, yelling “Ouch, ouch.” Immediately after that, they opened the doors and started beating us. A soldier hit me with the butt of his rifle in the shoulder, pulled me out onto the road and beat me a few times more on the head, face and back. At the same time, I saw them beating D., who was sitting behind me. They didn’t beat Muhammad (Sarma), I guess because they understood from the start that he was injured. After they’d subdued all of us and realized we were only unarmed kids, they searched the car. After a few minutes, another military vehicle came and took Muhammad away, and then more vehicles arrived and spread out in the area. The soldiers detained the teens for about two hours, during which time they were interrogated by phone and in person by people in civilian clothing. Their interrogators accused them, among other things, of a car-ramming attack and of throwing a Molotov cocktail. In a testimony given on 22 February 2020, Mahmoud ‘Awawdeh recounted what happened next: In a testimony given on 22 February 2020, Mahmoud ‘Awawdeh recounted what happened next: “The soldier couldn’t get to me because the boulder was blocking the car door on my side, so it couldn’t entirely open. He made me get out. I got out, terrified they would kill us. I put my hands up and he must have noticed I was a little kid and that’s why he didn’t hit me and only sat me on the curb. Afterwards, I saw them take out Muhammad (Sarma), who was groaning in pain. They took him aside and after a few moments, a military vehicle came and took him away. After that they sat us by the boulders on the side of the road, a few meters from each other. At that point, more soldiers arrived. Once in a while they asked for our names, where we were headed and where we were coming from. They spoke to us in Hebrew and sometimes in broken Arabic. They searched the car. We were in shock. None of the soldiers asked us how we were doing. They didn’t give us first aid and didn’t check if we were injured or not. After about half an hour or an hour, each one of us was interrogated by phone by someone identifying as the head of intelligence in the West Bank. He asked for our names, where we live, where we were going and why. That happened three times. About an hour later, two people in civilian clothes arrived, one of them masked. The other one interrogated us separately about the same things. We were very cold and frightened. They wouldn’t even let us call our parents to explain what had happened, even though we asked them. Ahmad Abu Sambal , the owner of the garage where Seif-a-Din ‘Awawdeh works, happened to pass by and saw the car and the teens by the roadside. He stopped a few hundred meters from the jeep and waited, since he was afraid to approach the scene. At around 11:00 P.M., after approaching until he was several dozen meters away, he recognized the car as the same kind Seif-a-Din drove, and at the same moment received a call from Seif-a-Din’s father asking if he knew where his son was. At that point, Abu Sambal realized that Seif a-Din was there and went over to the soldiers. In a testimony he gave on 22 February 2020, Abu Sambal, a married father of one from Beitin, related: “I got out of the car and went up to the soldiers to see if my employee was there. The soldiers signaled me from afar to go back, but I lifted my shirt and raised my hands in the air, so they wouldn’t suspect me. I told them, “That’s my car and I want to speak to the commanding officer”. Two soldiers walked towards me with their weapons drawn, while a third went to speak with the commander. The commander, who was standing by the wrecked car, agreed to talk with me. I approached him and saw three teens sitting by the road about two meters away from each other, with soldiers guarding them. I saw Seif-a-Din and as I walked past him, asked how he was doing. He said, “They beat me”, but we couldn’t talk more. He also told me one of the boys, whom I didn’t know (Muhammad Sarma), had been injured. I introduced myself to the commanding officer, who identified himself as the intelligence officer for the area, and explained to him that it was my car and that Seif works for me. I told him Seif must have been frightened of the military vehicle, tried to avoid it and hit a boulder. I got the impression the officer understood me. I asked him to let the kids go home. He said “O.K., But I want to meet with you on Monday morning, 10:00 A.M., at Ofer military prison”. After I got the keys and saw Seif drive away with the other kids, I could finally relax. I went back to my car and left.” The next day, around 1:00 P.M., I called Seif and asked him to bring the car. When he arrived, I was shocked, because I hadn’t seen him well the other night. His whole face was swollen, with blue marks on his forehead and around his left eye. I also checked the car and noticed signs of shooting, five or six bullet holes on the right side of the backseat. If you saw it you wouldn’t believe the people sitting there came out alive. There were some more bullet holes in the trunk.” Mahmoud ‘Awawdeh further recalled in his testimony: "After Seif-a-Din’s employer stepped in and they released us, we went home. The next day, I went to the medical clinic in the village. They told me I had been lightly injured and disinfected the wound. When I met Seif-a-Din, he had some wounds and minor bruises on his face, near his left eye and on his forehead and head. Muhammad’s parents told me his situation is still critical and that he’s hospitalized in Israel”. Muhammad Sarma underwent surgery at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem, where his family visited him. On 12 March 2020, he was moved to al-Istishari Hospital in Ramallah. As of 26 March he is still hospitalized there. Immediately after the incident, the military claimed in media reports that soldiers who had set up a roadblock in the Beitin area opened fire at a Palestinian, as they feared he was about to commit a car-ramming attack after he accelerated towards them. The military’s conduct in this case was reckless from the start: first the shooting and wounding of Sarma, then the beatings, and finally the detention of the teens for two hours on fake allegations without notifying their parents. The false claim of fearing a car-ramming attack, which allegedly justified the shooting, is baseless and contradicts the evidence: the car was shot from behind and the teens were released the same night. Furthermore, the following day, the military and the Israel Security Agency no longer designated any of them as suspects in a car-ramming attack. However, this incident is no exception. It demonstrates, yet again, how easy it is for soldiers to shoot Palestinians (in this case, 15-year-olds), and then justify their action with false claims. The entire military chain of command then quickly adopts these allegations as official statements. It is pure chance that the incident did not end with the killing of one or more of the teens. Even if the outcome were worse, as it is in most cases, the military would have whitewashed the case and held no one accountable. One has to wonder about all the incidents in which no Palestinian witnesses were left alive to describe what happened. All those instances in which the military was quick to declare a “car-ramming attack” and boasted of “taking out a terrorist”. Without witnesses, it is obviously harder to disprove the military’s version. The incident in Deir Dobwan not only sheds light on the reckless, life-threatening conduct of the soldiers in this case, but raises questions about other incidents – which are unlikely to ever be answered.
