Soldiers shot dead a Palestinian teen trying to place a rock on a village road to block their way, endangering no one
5 February 2024
On Tuesday, 28 November 2023, at around 4:00 A.M., soldiers entered the village of Kafr ‘Ein, northwest of Ramallah, and stopped by a house to arrest one of its occupants. About 20 young men who heard they were in the village, gathered about 200 meters from the spot and watched. Meanwhile, four soldiers went into a grove near the house and lay in wait, watching the young men.
When the young men learning the soldiers were lying in ambush for them, they went about 100 meters back into the village and stood by other houses, about 350 meters from the house the force entered. At around 4:30, the soldiers left the house with the arrested resident, put him in a jeep and drove towards the center of the village. Just then, the four soldiers, who had apparently made their way towards the young men through the grove and side paths, emerged by the road about 80 meters away from them. When the young men saw the soldiers and jeeps coming towards them, most of them went further back into the village.
Malek Dagharah, 17, and another young man stayed behind and tried to place obstacles on the road. When they saw the jeeps drawing closer, they tried to run away. Just then, one of the soldiers who emerged from the grove fired several shots at the two teens from a distance of about 80 meters. Four bullets hit Dagharah, who took a few steps and collapsed. The other teen dragged him towards the rest of the group. At that point, the four soldiers climbed into the jeeps and the force drove away. Malek was taken to a clinic in a nearby village and from there to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad collected testimonies on 30 November 2023.
J. A. said:
On Tuesday, 28 November 2023, at 3:50 A.M., I saw a post on Telegram that four military jeeps were driving into the village from the direction of a-Nabi Saleh. I left home and went to the intersection between our village and the village of Qarawat Bani Zeid. I met some other young guys there who had also come to see what was going on, near the minimarket. We saw the force stop next to a house on the road leading to a-Nabi Saleh, 200 meters from the intersection. They were probably there to arrest someone.
After about 20 to 25 minutes, someone who lives near that house told us four soldiers had sneaked into the groves and were watching us from there. We went about 150 meters back into the village, towards our homes. Most of us live in the same neighborhood. We stood there and waited to see if the soldiers would drive on to the center of the village. Some of the guys tried to get closer to the soldiers, but we called them back because we were afraid someone would get hurt. We were careful.
Twenty minutes later, at 4:30 A.M., someone from the village told us on the phone that the soldiers had left the house and were driving into the village. They drove along the road we were standing on, and one of the jeeps drove on to a wider part of the road and turned around. When the first jeep was close to us, four soldiers came out from behind the corner of one of the houses. They were probably the soldiers who snuck into the groves earlier. When we saw them, most of us turned back, but Malek Dagharah, 17, and another boy wanted to block the road with rocks and stayed put.
A soldier who was standing behind a utility pole about 75 meters from Malek fired four bullets at him. I saw the green laser of the soldier’s rifle. I think all the bullets hit Malek. He ran two steps and fell. We ran away and hid on the street corner. We didn’t dare go over to Malek, but the boy who was near him managed to drag him towards us. We waited for the army jeeps to finish turning around, and then the soldiers who were in the grove got in and they drove towards a-Nabi Saleh. I heard Malek say, “It’s okay, it’s okay, thank God,” which was strange because his internal organs were literally spilling out of his belly. We immediately put him in the car of someone from the village, who took him to the clinic in Beit Rima. I found out that from there, he was taken to the hospital in Salfit.
I went home and followed updates on Malek’s condition on the village WhatsApp group. About an hour after the incident, I was standing at the entrance to my house and I saw our neighbor go to the scene of the shooting and collect the shell casings. He found three or four casings, took a picture and posted it on the a-Nabi Saleh news site. At 5:15 A.M., the announcement came that Malek had died at the government hospital in Salfit.
M.D. said:
On Tuesday, 28 November 2023, at 3:50 A.M., my sister woke me up and told me the army was in the village. I got dressed and went out at 4:00 A.M. I went to the intersection between the village and Qarawat Bani Zeid. There were already about 20 to 25 young guys there. Then I saw three jeeps and a soldier transport vehicle next to the home of a young guy they must have come to arrest.
I heard from the guys that they’d seen soldiers going down to the nearby groves, but I didn’t see them. We were about 200 meters from the military vehicles. There were soldiers next to them, shining laser flashlights. After 30 minutes, the jeeps drove on into the village intersection. We all ran about 100-150 meters into the village. Most of the guys kept running and I stayed with Malek Dagharah. We stood there to see where the jeeps were going.
Then Malek and I tried to block the road in case the jeeps advanced. After about two minutes, one of the jeeps came close to us and stopped on the right side. I saw four soldiers, whom I later found out had set up an ambush earlier, sneaking along near Abu Bahajat’s house. One of them hid behind a utility pole about 80 meters away from us. One of the soldiers aimed his rifle and fired a volley of four or five bullets at Malek, who was a few meters ahead of me. Malek started running, and after 10 or 20 meters I heard him say, “Oh, he paralyzed me.” Then he fell down. I dragged him away from there. At first, the military jeep came towards us, but after 20 meters the soldiers got in and they drove towards a-Nabi Saleh.
While I was dragging Malek, he said, “they filled me with holes” and “hurry.” Some young guys from the village came and took Malek away in a car. He was still awake and moving, but bleeding heavily. His clothes were soaked in blood. I found his father and went with him to the clinic in Beit Rima. They gave Malek first aid and then transferred him by ambulance to the Salfit hospital, but he was dead by the time he got to the ER there. They tried to resuscitate him but couldn’t, and then they pronounced him dead.
Majed Dagharah, 59, Malek’s father, spoke about the night he lost his son:
My wife and I have eight children. The eldest, Malak, is 23 years old, and the youngest, Maryam, is nine. Malek was 17. The night he was killed, I watched the news with him and with some of the other kids, and went to bed around 2:30 A.M. At around 4:00 A.M., my youngest son woke me up and told me the army was in the village. I got up, and Malak told me the soldiers were near a house at the entrance to the village, on the a-Nabi Saleh road. About half an hour later, Malak told me someone posted on the village group that a person named Malek was shot by the army.
I went out to the street, hoping to find someone who knew what had happened. I saw a relative of mine. He came up to me, pale and scared, and told me Malek was shot at the entrance to the village. I asked in what part of the body. I guess he didn’t want to tell me the truth, and he said it was the shoulder. He said Malek was taken to the clinic in the neighboring village of Beit Rima. I drove there quickly in my car and was there within five to seven minutes. At the entrance to the village, I came across the ambulance that was there to take Malek and the driver told me to follow him to the clinic.
When we got there and saw Malek, it was clear he was in bad shape, and I felt those were his last moments. He was barely breathing. He tried to talk but couldn’t. Paramedics were giving him first aid. I understood he was hit by four bullets. I’d never seen injuries like that, especially the one in the belly.
At 4:50 A.M., they put him in the ambulance and I went with him to the hospital in Salfit. I tried to keep him awake on the way. The paramedic hooked him up to oxygen and an IV drip. He started blacking out for a few minutes at a time and waking up. The last time was two minutes before we arrived. He screamed in pain and stretched his leg, and then suddenly his body went limp. I realized he was probably dead. I kept on trying to wake him up, but it was no use. We got to the hospital. The medical team was waiting for us and took him to the ER right away. They did CPR on him for half an hour, but nothing helped. At 5:30 A.M., they pronounced him dead.
We received his body at 9:00 A.M. and buried him at the cemetery after noon prayers. May he receive the mercy of heaven.