On Wednesday, 25 October 2023, at around 12:00 P.M., two masked soldiers arrived at the home of ‘Omran Nawaj’ah. They searched it and left, without answering ‘Omran’s questions about what they were doing there.
The following day, at around 1:00 A.M., six masked men arrived at the home of Ahmad Nawaj’ah, ‘Omran’s neighbor, and searched it for half an hour. They then went to ‘Omran’s home and searched it, after waking the family and seating everyone on chairs inside the house while pointing their weapons at them. One of the soldiers shoved ‘Omran, accused him of directing light toward the settlement of Susiya, and threatened to wipe out all the Palestinians’ structures.
‘Omran Nawaj’ah, a 46-year-old married father of four from Khirbet Susiya, said on 30 October 2023:
I live in Susiya with my wife, Iman (46), and our four children: ‘Omar (11), Dalal (14), Mus’ab (15) and Baraa (18). I make a living from agriculture.
On Wednesday, 25 October 2023, at 12:00 P.M., two masked soldiers came from the direction of the settlement of Susiya. They entered our home and searched it. When I asked what they were doing, they ordered me to be silent. Then they left and headed back towards the settlement.
At 1:00 A.M. the next day, I saw two D-Max pickup trucks, one with a flashing blue light, trying to reach my home. They couldn’t, because the road was blocked a week earlier by settlers and soldiers.
Masked soldiers got out of the trucks and went into the home of Ahmad Jaber Nawaj’ah, who is a relative and neighbor of mine. They searched it while we watched from our home.
After about half an hour, six masked soldiers came to our house and called me from outside. I went out and they immediately forced their way inside and started searching our house. They woke my wife and children and made them sit on chairs in the house. Two soldiers stood next to the children, aiming their rifles at them. The children were terrified, physically shaking with fear. Even Iman almost lost it, she was so scared.
The soldiers searched the house for about 15 minutes, turning everything upside down and rummaging through everything.
One masked soldier pressed his rifle across my neck, pushed me hard against the wall of the house and said, in Arabic, “You’re shining a light on our village.” I said, “No, I’m not shining a light on you.” He said, “You’re lying.” I said I was shining a light on my sheep because there are thieves and wolves. He called me a liar again and said, “I’ll wipe out all these structures.”
Afterwards, another soldier took me to the second structure I use for residence, which they also searched for about an hour. Then they left.