Testimonies of Khitam Da’na-al-Qimari and Hamed al-Qimari, a married couple from the a-Ras neighborhood. Soldiers invaded their home on 17 August 2024, removed Khitam and her young children away and later removed Hamed, and held them outside for hours
Khitam Da’na-al-Qimari, 26, a mother of two:
I live with my husband Hamed, 30, and our two children, Muhammad, 3, and Layan, 7, about 200 meters from the a-Rajabi building (Beit Hashalom) where settlers live.
Since the events of October 7, all of us area residents have been suffering even more from oppression by the occupation forces. They have imposed restrictions on us and are making our lives hell. The soldiers and police officers have turned the area into a big prison. They open and close the street, and sometimes it depends only on their mood. On Fridays and Saturdays, they close the street and don’t allow us to even walk along it. Only settlers can move around, and some of them are armed.
The soldiers and police officers have turned the area into a big prison. They open and close the street, and sometimes it depends only on their mood
The soldiers chase after our men and children, and sometimes also after women, detain people for no reason and sometimes even arrest them. Life here has become unbearable, but we have no other place to live. Despite the soldiers’ barbarism and cruelty towards us, we try to hold on, to stay here and keep living in our home.
Still, I never thought I would go through what the soldiers did to us in our home. I never imagined they would detain my three-year-old son and me, to punish me for “not raising him well” because he supposedly threw stones at them.
On 17 August 2024, around 7:00 P.M., I saw about 15 soldiers standing around our home and the homes of my brothers-in-law. I took my kids inside, closed the door and watched them through the window. I saw the soldiers raid our relatives’ homes and take everyone out to the yard. They took out my brother-in-law Jihad, 42, his wife and their six children, and then my brother-in-law Yihya, 35, his wife and their four children, as well as my father-in-law Ramadan, 68, and my mother-in-law Bushra, 60.
Then I saw the soldiers pointing at our house, which is about 10 meters away from my brothers-in-law. Five soldiers came towards us and brought Jihad with them. Jihad called out to me, and I opened the door. One of the soldiers yelled at me to get everyone out of the house. While I was trying to dress my children and put their shoes on, the soldier shouted at me again to come out. I managed to put their shoes on, but they were still in their undershirts and I was in my prayer clothes, and that’s how we went outside.
Once we were in the yard, the soldiers went into our house and I heard them ransacking it. Meanwhile, other soldiers went into the homes of my brothers-in-law and searched them.
I told them Muhammad is just three years old and doesn’t understand what it means to throw stones. My children were afraid of the soldiers. They cried and clung to me
The soldiers also entered the home of my husband’s uncle, Abu Khaled, to check his security cameras. After they held us in the yard for about an hour, one of the soldiers asked me if I was Muhammad’s mother, and I said yes. The soldier said the boy had thrown stones at soldiers and that they were going to take my kids and me to the military post.
I told them Muhammad is just three years old and doesn’t understand what it means to throw stones. My children were afraid of the soldiers. They cried and clung to me. Jihad and his son Mahmoud, 18, protested what was happening and insisted on coming with us. The soldiers let them come, and then they took us to the street below the a-Rajabi building.
The soldiers separated me from the children. They took Jihad and me to the Jaber checkpoint, and left the children with Mahmoud on the street, by the a-Rajabi building. I heard my children crying and screaming. The soldiers detained me and Jihad at the checkpoint and after about an hour, I saw soldiers leading my husband to the checkpoint with his hands tied.
I was very afraid for the children and those were very difficult hours. After another half hour or so, the soldiers brought the children together with Mahmoud to the Jaber checkpoint. I saw that Mahmoud had taken off his shirt and put it on Muhammad because he was very cold. The soldiers told Jihad and Mahmoud to go home, and then took me, my husband Hamed and the children on foot to the military base near the gate of the Kiryat Arba settlement, in the Wadi al-Hasin area. They made us sit on the ground in the yard for about an hour, and then a soldier came and told us in Arabic that we hadn’t raised Muhammad well. He said we had to watch over our children and educate them, so we wouldn’t be arrested again. Then the soldiers took us towards the al-Hariqah checkpoint and ordered us to go home from there.
A soldier came and told us in Arabic that we hadn’t raised Muhammad well. He said we had to watch over our children and educate them, so we wouldn’t be arrested again
It was already 11:30 P.M. It’s a long way, and my husband tried to convince them to let us take a shorter route through Wadi al-Hasin Street, because it was too late to find a car to take us. But they refused. My husband called relatives who live in the Jabal Johar area, and one of them came in his car and took us to the al-Muhawel area, from where there is no access to our homes by car. We walked the rest of the way home, tired and humiliated, especially because I was wearing nothing over the prayer clothes.
That night, my kids didn’t want to sleep in their room and clung to me all night. They kept talking about how the soldiers invaded our home, turned everything upside down and broke some of the flowerpots in the entrance. My daughter Layan couldn’t stop talking about how the soldiers led her father to the checkpoint in with his hands tied. I spent the whole night tidying the house and calming my children, and I’m still very shaken.
Testimony of Hamed al-Qimari, 30, Khitam’s husband:
I live in the a-Ras area with my wife Khitam, 26, and our children: Muhammad, 3, and Layan, 7. Our house is about 200 meters away from the a-Rajabi building, which settlers took over. I work as a clerk at the al-Israa bookstore, which is nearby, in Area H2.
On 17 August 2024, I got home from work around 8:00 P.M. and found soldiers raiding my house and the houses of my brothers Jihad and Yihya. My parents Ramadan, 68, and Bushra, 60, were in the yard along with Jihad’s wife and his six children, as well as Yihya, his wife and their four children. The soldiers took everyone outside.
I got home from work and found soldiers raiding my house and the houses of my brothers [...] my parents were in the yard [...] the soldiers took everyone outside
When I got there, the soldiers were still in our apartment. I tried to go in, but two soldiers blocked me in the yard. I told them it was my home and I wanted to check on my wife and children, but they didn’t listen. Then Yihya told me the soldiers had arrested Khitam and taken her and the kids, along with my brother Jihad and his son Mahmoud, towards the Worshippers’ Route.
One of the soldiers came over and asked: “Who are you?” I told him I was the owner of the apartment they were in. The soldier said my son had thrown stones at soldiers. Then he tied my hands behind my back with zip ties, grabbed me by the shirt and led me, together with four other soldiers, to the checkpoint in the Jaber neighborhood.
At the checkpoint, I found my wife crying and my brother Jihad. My wife said the soldiers were holding both our children, Muhammad and Layan. She was very worried about them.
At the checkpoint, I found my wife crying and my brother Jihad. My wife said the soldiers were holding both our children [...] she was very worried about them
About half an hour later, the soldiers brought our children, both shivering with cold and fear, and my nephew Mahmoud, to the checkpoint.
The soldiers ordered Jihad and Mahmoud to go home. They took me, my wife and our children on foot to the army post next to the southern gate of Kiryat Arba. At the post, I was interrogated by an officer who spoke Arabic. He said my son Muhammad was not well brought-up and had no manners, and was throwing stones at soldiers. He said if I didn’t want them to arrest us again, I had to raise him differently.
There were other soldiers there and they made fun of us, laughed and swore obscenities at us.
I told the officer that Muhammad was just a little boy and that I didn’t know if he’d really thrown stones, but that even if he had, he didn’t understand what he was doing. The officer scolded me and said he’d let us go this time but if it happened again, he’d arrest us again.
I asked one of the soldiers to let us take the street that leads to our house, a distance of only about 150 meters, but he refused and said that Arabs weren’t allowed there after 10:00 P.M. We took the long way.
They kept us for another hour or so at the post, and at around 11:30 P.M., they took us on foot to the al-Hariqah checkpoint and ordered us to go home. I asked one of the soldiers to let us take the street that leads to our house, a distance of only about 150 meters, but he refused and said that Arabs weren’t allowed there after 10:00 P.M.
We took the long way. Muhammad was shaking so much, he couldn’t walk. I carried him in my arms until we reached the al-Kasarah area, where I called a relative and asked him to give us a ride in his car to the al-Muhawel area. He drove us, and from there we walked home.
As soon as we walked into the house, my wife started crying and completely fell apart. She said she felt humiliated and degraded. I tried to calm her down. I didn’t want the kids to see her like that. They were already scared and exhausted.
The children refused to sleep in their room and stayed close to their mother until they fell asleep. When they were asleep, my wife started tidying up. The soldiers left a big mess and caused damaged, too. For instance, they broke the flowerpots my wife loves to grow.
Since October 7 and the start of the war in Gaza, we’ve been suffering from harassment and violence by the occupation authorities all the time here. They’ve made our life a true hell. A lot of families have left the area because of it.
* Testimonies given to B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari on 18 August 2024