Ibrahim Da'ud, pensioner

I live in Qalqiliya with my wife and ten children. I don't work because I have a heart problem, and underwent open-heart surgery in March 2007. My house, which was built in 1970, has three floors. My brother 'Ali, 56, and his family live on the first floor. My family and I live on the second floor. My son Nidal and his wife and four children live on the top floor. Each floor has three rooms, living room, and bathroom.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007, around 4:30 in the morning, I was awoken by the sound of dogs barking. I went to the window and saw army jeeps driving on the street. The others in the apartment got up, and we waited to see that would happen. The neighbor's house to the north of ours was full of Israeli soldiers. We were frightened and stayed inside the house.

At six in the morning, the soldiers ordered us to go outside. My sons and I went out first and the women followed. When we got outside, the soldiers shouted at us to stop and undress. They told my sons and my brother's sons to take off all their clothes, including underpants, and to turn around in front of them, with their hands on their head. My sons and nephews undressed and stood there naked in front of the soldiers.

When my turn came, one of the soldiers ordered me to remove my clothes. I told him I had a heart condition and had undergone heart surgery, but that didn't help. The soldiers forced me to undress completely. Then they ordered us to stand on the side until they finished searching the women. In front of us, the male soldiers searched the girls and women, using a metal detector. They did not make them undress.

Then the soldiers took us, naked, to Jamal Qub'a's house. They led the women in another direction, to the house of Zohir Sha'ib, which is situated alongside the main road.

While we were waiting there naked in the sun, opposite Jamal's house, army vehicles and bulldozers arrived. At about 11:00, the soldiers took us to the "divan" [room for receiving guests] of the Hourani family, where they gathered the residents and kept us until 7:30 at night, without letting us have anything to eat. The soldiers did not allow me to take my heart medication.

When the military action ended and the soldiers left, we went back to where our houses were. It was as if there had been an earthquake. The whole area was destroyed.

The columns of our house were destroyed by army bulldozers. The western and northern walls of the first floor, on which my brother and his family lived, were destroyed. The second floor, on which my family lives, had cracks and much of the furniture and windows were damaged by the shells fired by the army. The third floor had suffered cracks in the western and northern walls. The engineers told us that it was dangerous to live in the house because of the cracks in the foundation.

Ibrahim Mahmoud Fares Da'ud, 62, married with ten children and retired, is resident of a-Naqqar neighborhood of Qalqiliya. His testimony was given to 'Abd al-Karim a-Sa'adi, on 1 September 2007 at the scene of the incident.