'Issam Shahadeh, husband of Shadiyeh 'Odeh

My wife is in the end of her ninth month of pregnancy. At about 4:00 A.M. today, she woke me and said that she felt labor pains. She wanted to go to Rafidiyeh Hospital in Nablus,, which is around twelve kilometers from our village. I took our two children to their grandparents' apartment, which is in our building. My wife and I got into the car and started toward the hospital. I did not notify anyone [other than the grandparents] that I was going to the hospital. It was very early and they were asleep.

We left the village and reached the permanent IDF checkpoint at the southern entrance to Nablus. The checkpoint, which is next to an army base, has been there for a long time. The soldiers at the checkpoint stopped us about fifty meters before we reached the checkpoint. They told me to get out of the car. They searched me and checked my ID card. They told me to take off my jacket and asked where I was going. I told them that I was taking my wife to the hospital in Nablus because she was in labor. One of the soldiers went over to the car and looked at my wife, who was sitting in the back seat. After the soldier verified that I was telling the truth, he let me go to Nablus via the main road.

I drove a few hundred meters until we reached a deep pit in the road that the IDF had made to divide the road into two. I got out and filled up part of the pit with stones so that we could pass. We crossed and drove for about fifty meters. Then I heard the sound of bullets from behind us. My wife cried out and said that she had been hit by a bullet. Because I was driving very slowly, I managed to stop immediately. I looked at the rear end of the car and saw several bullet holes. I went to my wife and asked her where she had been hit. She said that she felt pain in her left shoulder. I touched her shoulder and my hand was drenched in blood.

I screamed and then some soldiers came out from between the houses. They asked me why I was screaming. I told them that my wife had been wounded and that they were the ones who had shot her. One of the soldiers told me that I was lying, and asked where my wife was. I told him that she was sitting in the back seat of the car. The soldier went over to the car and saw her. He came back and said that he was going to summon an army doctor, and that, if I was lying, I would be punished.

A doctor arrived pretty quickly and confirmed that she had been hit by a bullet, which penetrated her left shoulder and exited her chest. He gave my wife first-aid and called for an army ambulance, that is, an army jeep with medical equipment. With the soldiers' help, he hooked my wife up to infusion and bandaged her wounds.

The doctor said that her condition was serious because she was in labor, and that the bullet passed close to her heart. He said that she had to be taken to an Israeli hospital, Beilinson or Tel Hashomer, and I agreed. The soldiers wanted to take my wife in the armored personnel carrier by herself. After an argument, the officer agreed to let me go with her as far to the checkpoint. From there, she would be taken by an Israeli ambulance.

When we got to the checkpoint, the doctor said that her condition was serious and that she had to be taken to the nearest hospital. One of the soldiers contacted the DCO and asked them to send someone who would be able to arrange for my wife to get to Nablus quickly. An Israeli officer soon arrived and he called the Red Crescent for an ambulance. The ambulance came from Bita, which is only three kilometers from the checkpoint. We took my wife to Rafidiyeh Hospital, where she was admitted into the intensive care department.

My wife did not lose consciousness. Now she is waiting to give birth by Caesarian section. The doctors said that her condition does not enable a regular childbirth.

'Issam Idris Shahadeh, age 31, works as a laborer. He is married with two children and lives in Hawareh, Nablus District. The testimony was taken by 'Ali Daragmeh at Rafidiyeh Hospital in Nablus on 24 February 2002