The soldiers arrived from the north in a military jeep. They fired in bursts, in all directions. There were a lot of trees and I heard the bullets hit them. The soldiers didn’t even call out to us to stop. They just drove up and immediately started shooting. ‘Imad quickly got out of the pit and started running away with the three guys who were outside.
That area is full of olive trees. The guys ran in all directions, which made it hard for the soldiers to see them. I saw two soldiers chase ‘Imad but didn’t see how he was injured.
I moved away from there and after I was about 700 meters from there, I met one of the people who worked with me and we decided to look for the others. We began to carefully search the area. We stood on a hill overlooking the area where the incident occurred. About an hour and a half after the incident, we saw that four other military jeeps had arrived, as well as three ISA jeeps and a military ambulance. We also saw a local ambulance. The jeeps and ambulances stayed there for half an hour or so, and drove towards a military base nearby and the military ambulance drove in.
In Halhul, Hebron District, on 16 October 1994
Testimony of Ayman al-Janazrah, 30, a father of one from Halhul
The testimony was given to Fouad Abu Hamed on 20 October 1994
I work in archeology, together with other people. We look for antiques and sell them. On 16 October 1994, at around 1:00 P.M., we were working in an excavation in a field west of Halhul. We were five people altogether. I was with ‘Imad in the excavation, about a meter and a half below ground level.
I remember that a week before he was killed, ‘Imad took me and some of our brothers for a trip to the Dead Sea. He would also take me to the farmland where he worked and to archaeological digs and visits to friends and relatives. He was like a father to us and everyone loved him. He had a strong personality and had many social ties in Halhul and the area.
On the day he was killed, Sunday, 16 October 1994, he went with a group of friends to Khirbet al-Urduniyah to dig for antiques. He left at 7:00 in the morning with four of his friends. About four hours later we heard that there were soldiers east of the town, that there had been gunfire and someone was injured. Later, we learned it was my brother ‘Imad.
Shortly after that, a friend of his came. He was crying and my mother asked him what happened. He told her that ‘Imad had been killed. It was a shock for everyone, but especially for my parents. My father suffered a nervous breakdown and ongoing depression, and within months also fell ill with diabetes. Because of the depression he stopped working and sank into despair. He kept shouting and crying and calling for ‘Imad.
For more than three years we were sunk in sorrow. We felt empty. It was as if I had lost a father. I felt his absence every moment and especially during holiday meals and family events. We couldn’t understand and come to terms with what had happened.
Meanwhile, our father passed away and my mother’s condition deteriorated. She was very busy raising the younger boys but kept mentioning his name. She kept crying and saying, “If only he’d had time to get married and have a child like him.”
Despite all that, life had to go on and Allah gave us the relief of forgetting. We grew up. Four of my brothers named their sons ‘Imad, as well as some of his friends. My sister had a daughter and she called her I’timad.
At the time, I learned from ‘Imad’s friends that he had been shot while trying to run away from the soldiers. Human rights organizations handled the matter, but I was too young to follow it and my father, who had given up hope, didn’t follow the legal developments.
Muhammad al-Adarbeh, ‘Imad’s brother, 39 and a father of three, spoke with B’Tselem field researcher Musa Abu Hashhash this year and described what the family has been through since his brother was killed:
In 1994, when I was 14, my older brother ‘Imad was killed. For me, he was not only a brother but also my best friend. My father worked and was often away from home, and ‘Imad was for us – his little brothers – the strong adult figure. We were five boys and six girls.
A. On 16 October 1994, ‘Imad Yusef Muhammad al-‘Adarbeh was shot during an attempt by IDF soldiers to apprehend civilians suspected of antique robbery.
B. An officer was indicted for the offense of causing the deceased’s death. After hearing all the evidence, the military court decided to acquit the defendant of the offense of causing death as, in the judges’ opinion, it was not proven as required by criminal law that shots fired by the defendant were the ones that hit the deceased and the causal link between the demise of the wounded deceased and the shooting carried out by the defendant was not proven.
C. However, the judges found that the defendant acted unlawfully in discharging his firearm, even in the air, towards a suspect who was not suspected of committing a dangerous crime, and therefore opened fire without authority. The defendant was convicted of unlawful use of a firearm.
D. The defendant was sentenced to a two-month suspended prison term for two years.
Letter to B’Tselem dated 13 April 1997 from Col. Einat Ron, Chief Military Prosecutor