Muhammad Abu 'Ahour, bulldozer operator

I live with my family on a-Saf Street, which is next to Salah a-Din Mosque.

On Wednesday, 12 March 2008, at around 6:00 P.M., I left the house with my wife and our two-year-old son. We wanted to go to al-Khader village to pick up our television from the repairman. I drove about 20 meters when I saw my brother Ahmad walking on the street opposite my family’s house. I stopped the car and Ahmad got into the back seat. I drove about 500 meters and then remembered that the battery of my mobile phone was weak and that I had to replace it. I told my wife and brother that we’d go first to Darar’s mobile-phone store. His store is on a-Jabel Street, opposite the old post office and behind the Palestinian government offices. I drove to a-Jabel Street and parked my car about five meters from the mobile-phone store. Ahmad and I got out, and my wife and baby son remained in the car, sitting in the front seat.

We went into the store. I told Darar about the problem, and he took my phone and began to check it. While he was checking it, I heard the sound of gunfire outside. I immediately went outside to see what was happening, because my wife and baby were in the car. I stood in front of the shop, about five meters from my car, and saw a red Daihatsu parked behind my car. I saw a man walking three meters from the car. Then I heard someone call out, “’Imad!” The man who called out the name was standing on the street next to an orange minibus with Palestinian plates. I saw the man called ‘Imad turn toward the voice and then I heard the sound of a gunshot. The bullet hit ‘Imad in the leg and he fell to the ground.

Immediately after that, I saw six soldiers, in uniform, with helmets and masks, approach the Daihatsu and open massive gunfire at it. I saw the blue ricochet of the bullets. They fired into the car for a long time. The man who had called out to ‘Imad stood next to the minibus and didn’t fire. He was wearing civilian clothes – a blue shirt and jeans – and looked as though he was in his forties. He had a potbelly and was tall, dark-skinned and bald. He told me in Arabic, “Get back or I’ll shoot you.” I shouted that my wife and baby were in the car and that I wanted to go to them, and that I didn't care if he shot me, that I preferred to die with my wife and baby than die watching how the car next to mine was being shot at. I spoke to him in Hebrew, and he answered me in fluent Arabic.

I heard ‘Imad cry out. He was lying in the middle of the street. Then I saw the soldiers who had fired at the Daihatsu turn toward him and shoot him in the head. His brain scattered all over the ground, which was a horrible sight. I went over to my car and took out my wife and baby, who were unharmed. The bullets hadn’t hit my car. I took the two of them into the mobile-phone store and then I went outside again. I saw the soldiers take a weapon from the driver’s seat of the Daihatsu.

Then I saw the man in civilian clothes holding a weapon. He went over to the Daihatsu and shot the head’s of the three men who were inside. They didn't move. He shot them from behind, in the head. I didn’t know who they were or why they had been executed.

After that, the man in civilian clothes fired one shot into the head of ‘Imad, whose brain was already scattered on the ground. Then he went back to the minibus, got in with the soldiers, and they drove off.

I went over to the Daihatsu and looked inside. I was shocked when I saw my uncle, ‘Issa Marzuq Zawahreh, who was 36 years old, sitting in the back seat of the car. His head was shattered and resting on the shoulder of his friend, Muhammad Shehadeh, who was next to him. Shehadeh was wanted by the Israeli army. Their heads, which had bullet holes in the back, were leaning forward. It was a terrifying sight, as was the sight of Ahmad al-Balbul, who was sitting next to the driver’s seat. Part of his body was scattered on the seat. The three were killed while sitting in the car. The firing was massive and lasted about two minutes. It came from behind the car. The bullets entered through the back window and went out through the windshield.

Lots of people gathered and removed the bodies from the car. A Red Crescent ambulance came and took the bodies to the Beit Jala government hospital.

Muhammad Khalil 'Abd Abu 'Ahur, 32, married with four children, is a bulldozer operator and a resident of Bethlehem. His testimony was given to Suha Zeid at her home on 16 March 2008.