Daliya Diab, age 31, paramedic

I work as a paramedic with the Palestinian Red Crescent in Nablus. On Thursday, August 28, 2003, around 9:20 AM I was sent to pick up two women in labor from Huwwara, which is about 17 kilometers south of Nablus. I left for Huwwara together with the ambulance driver, Muhammad Rihan. When we reached the military checkpoint located between Nablus and Huwwara, one of the soldiers ordered us to stop in order to check our ID cards and to search the ambulance. The search took around five minutes, and then we were allowed through. From the checkpoint we proceeded to Huwwara where the two women, Lubna Abdallah and Hanan A-Dyuk, were waiting for us: Hanan's husband and Lubna's mother-in-law were with them. The women and their escorts got into the ambulance and we drove towards Nablus the same way we came.

When we got to the Huwwara checkpoint, I took everyone's ID cards and got out of the ambulance to give them to the soldier at the checkpoint. Lubna did not have an ID card, but rather had a Jordanian passport as she is a tourist from Jordan. The soldier took our papers and ordered me to open the back of the ambulance. When I opened the door, he checked the IDs and looked at the people in the ambulance. When he got to Lubna's passport he asked where her ID card was. I told him that she is a tourist from Jordan and does not have an ID card. The soldier told her to get out of the ambulance and go back to where she came from. I told him that she was in labor and was having contractions, and so she cannot walk or even stand up. But the soldier insisted that she get out of the ambulance. I told him that if she gets out, she may give birth on the ground. I spoke in English to the soldier. He would not listen to me and continued to order the woman to get out of the ambulance and to leave the area of the checkpoint.

At that moment, Muhammad, the ambulance driver, got out and asked the soldier whether he knew English. The soldier said he did not. Muhammad asked him if any of the other soldiers at the checkpoint spoke English and the soldier said they didn't. Muhammad tried to explain to the soldier that Lubna didn't have an ID card as she was visiting from Jordan. At this stage, I saw the soldier grabbing Muhammad's hand and pushing him backwards. The soldier shouted at Muhammad in Hebrew and cursed at him. After that, the soldier grabbed Muhammad again and Muhammad tried to push him away.

During this time, I tried to talk to the soldier. I asked him why he was behaving in this manner and why he was cursing at Muhammad. He did not answer me and continued to order Lubna to get out of the ambulance and leave. Lubna got out of the ambulance and started to leave the checkpoint, walking slowly with her hand under her belly. She was afraid of giving birth at the checkpoint. She seemed very scared to me.

After that, I turned my attention back to Muhammad and tried to get the soldier to let go of him. At that point another soldier, who did speak English, showed up. He started shouting at Muhammad and hitting him. He pushed him with his hand and punched him in the shoulder. I tried to stand between Muhammad and the soldiers to prevent them from hitting him, but the first soldier hit me on my left shoulder and pushed me away. After that he ordered me to go back to the ambulance and sit down. I ignored his demand and did not leave Muhammad. The first soldier aimed his gun at Muhammad and threatened to shoot him. The two soldiers handcuffed Muhammad with white plastic handcuffs and made him sit by the checkpoint. I tried to talk to the second soldier in English and explain to him what happened, but he ignored me.

A quarter of an hour later, during which Muhammad sat on the ground, the two soldiers took Muhammad to the other side of the checkpoint. The soldiers walked on either side of him. I tried to chase them, but they shouted at me and ordered me to sit in the ambulance. I wanted to contact the Red Crescent in Nablus to let them know what had happened. The first time I tried to reached them, I got through and told them what was going on. But, the second time I tried, the first soldier took the phone from me and threw it at the ambulance. I picked up the phone and called the Assistant Director of the Red Crescent, Khaled El-Khalili. He told me that he had notified the Red Cross of our situation. After a while, Khaled and another driver arrived at the checkpoint. A Red Cross vehicle also came to the checkpoint and the representatives started to handle the problem.

A short while later, an Israeli military jeep arrived at the checkpoint. The soldiers in the jeep spoke with me and the representatives of the Red Cross. The commander of the jeep asked what the problem was and I told him what had happened. I told him that the first soldier ordered a pregnant woman to get out of the ambulance because she didn't have an ID card and had a passport instead. I also told him that the soldiers hit Muhammad. The commander, who wore a tag showing his rank on his shoulder, spoke to me in Arabic. He asked me and the ambulance driver who had come with Khaled to go back towards Huwwara to look for Lubna and take her to hospital in Nablus.

The driver and I got into the ambulance and went to look for Lubna. Muhammad stayed at the checkpoint. I agreed to leave the checkpoint without Muhammad because there were representatives of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent there. We looked for Lubna for about half an hour but couldn't find her. We looked on the streets in the village of Huwwara and at the medical center close to the village pharmacy, but without success. After looking for Lubna, we went back to Nablus. When we drove past the Huwwara checkpoint, Muhammad had already left with our colleagues and went to the Red Crescent office in Nablus.

Daliya Mahmoud Shhada Diab, age 31, is married and mother of two, a paramedic, and a resident of Nablus. The testimony was taken by 'Ali Daragmeh at the Red Crescent Offices in Nablus, on 2 September 2003.