Hussam a-Sa'adi, father of victim, aged 39
On Thursday, June 20, 2002, Jenin was under curfew. I was at home with my wife Ahlam, age 33 and our five children, Hadil, age 14, Rabi', age 13, Fares, age 12, Mahmud, age 11, and Asil, age 8. My niece, Mona Ibrahim a-Sa'adi, age 22, was visiting us at the house.
The situation in the area was very tense, as the occupation forces were bombing houses, conducing searches and arresting citizens. Around midnight, we heard the army around our house, in the old city. I prepared the family for any situation that might occur, especially as we heard the army was arresting people. I gathered my wife and children, and we all sat in one of the rooms. We were expecting the soldiers to break into the house. The soldiers broke into the home of Marwan and Sofian a-Sukki, which is adjacent to ours. Our house was quiet. We were expecting the soldiers. We left the house lights on so that the soldiers would understand that there were people in it. Suddenly, I heard one of the neighbors saying out loud: "There are people in this house, and children."
At that moment, there was a loud explosion. Parts of the house came down, including the room we were in. It simply caved in on top of us, and we remained beneath the ruins. I was relatively all right, because I had been standing when the explosion happened, so the only part of my body that was under ruins was the lower part. I was shocked and scared. I began calling out my children's' names, as they were all under the ruins.
The first voice I heard was Mahmud's. I removed about ten rocks off him. He was scared. I then rescued Asil, who had been hurt in the head and left thigh. I then removed the rocks that were on my legs and came out of the ruins. I continued to look for the rest of the family, shouting in the hope that someone would come to the house to help me. I then rescued my wife, and she began to help me, despite her condition. Together, we rescued Rabi' and Hadil. Hadil came out and began to cry for help. Within ten minutes, only Fares and my niece remained underneath the ruins. The neighbors hurried over and helped us. We managed to get Mona out. She had been hurt in several parts of her body. When we got Fares out, we noticed that his condition was severe. I collapsed. Some of the neighbors told me that they could still hear him speak.
In the meantime, an ambulance arrived. The crew took Fares and the ambulance headed east. It drove a distance of 70 meters and then turned north toward al-Mathan street, where there were a number of tanks and jeeps. The soldiers stopped the ambulance. Following that, the rest of the ambulances, which evacuated the other members of the family, took a different route. They turned south to Tal'at al-'Atari road and made it to the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital, we found out that Fares had not arrived yet. He finally arrived, about an hour and a half later. He was dead.
The soldiers that demolished the house left the place and left us underneath the ruins. They didn't offer us any help. In addition, they detained the ambulance that evacuated Fares. Our house was ruined for no reason.
Hussam Fares Suleiman a-Sa'adi, age 39, is a resident of Jenin. He is married and the father of five. The testimony was given to 'Atef Abu a-Rub, on June 2, 2002.