Ahmad 'Asaf, age 33, resident of Tulkarm Refugee Camp.

I live in the al-Ghanem neighborhood, which is in the center of Tulkarm Refugee Camp (RC). I live in a house with my wife and five children, my brother, his wife, and their son.

On Monday, 12 January 2004, around 10:00 AM, I was at home getting ready to go to the city of Tulkarm. While I was getting dressed, I heard people shouting. I am used to hearing my neighbors shout to warn others in the camp that the army is invading. When there is an invasion and people start shouting, normally all of the men run away and hide, and the women go outside and scream in order to distract the soldiers and to block the way. When I heard the shouting, I was on the second floor. I went to a window that has a view of a narrow passageway in the entrance of my neighborhood, so I could see what was going on. I saw a lot of soldiers walking in groups of three. Each group of three stood next to the door of a house that was in the entrance of the neighborhood. The soldiers opened the doors and went inside the houses.

I heard the sound of gunfire throughout of the camp and the voices of soldiers calling the residents to go outside, leave their doors open and go to the main street of the camp. My family and I and my brother and his family got ready to follow their orders. My brother took his one and a half year-old son and went out through the front door. Afterwards, the soldiers that were standing opposite our house ordered us to come out one by one. They ordered the men to lift up their shirts, take off their pants and turn around so that they could make sure that we weren't carrying weapons. We went outside just as the soldiers ordered and started going towards the main road. Many people had arrived there before us. There were also a lot of soldiers there and they ordered the residents to stand in three lines - one for men, one for women and one for children. It was raining and very cold. The soldiers ordered us to raise our hands over our heads.

The soldiers ordered the women and children to go into the kindergarten, which is in UNRWA's (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians) main offices in the camp. They called up the men one by one, searched them meticulously and told us to go to UNRWA's Center for the Handicapped. The kindergarten and the Center for the Handicapped are on the camp's main road. When we got to the Center for the Handicapped, soldiers tied our hands behind our backs with plastic handcuffs and blindfolded us with strips of cloth. After about a half hour, the soldiers ordered those detained to leave the Center and get on two trucks that were waiting there. Soldiers led the men to the trucks. They didn't take me, and after everyone else had gotten on the trucks, they took off my blindfold.

One of the soldiers was relatively tall, fair skinned and looked about 25 years old. I think he was the commanding officer because he gave all the orders to the other soldiers. He told me in Arabic that I was going to help him and that I had to stay very close to him in order to do everything that he requested. I said to him in Hebrew, "Okay." I don't know why the officer chose me. I think maybe it was because when we were in the Center, I calmed down two men who had been fighting. The officer also told another man, Ahmad Ghanem, that he had to help them. Ahmad told me that the officer had said to him that the soldiers want our help.

After the soldiers took all of the men to the two trucks, the officer told me and Ahmad to follow him and several other soldiers. Ahmad was walking with a few soldiers and I saw him get into a big jeep. The officer took me to another jeep. There were four soldiers inside the jeep. Two were sitting in front and two in back. I sat in back. Three other jeeps stood next to the Center for the Handicapped These jeeps were bigger than normal jeeps. The three jeeps drove towards the al-Ghamen neighborhood and stopped after about 450 or 500 meters, next to the al-Husri family's house.

One of the soldiers in the jeep with me said to me in Hebrew: "Put your hands over your ears. There is going to be an explosion right now." We heard a strong explosion very close to us. After the explosion, one of the soldiers sitting facing me in the back of the jeep ordered me to go inside the al-Husri house. I went there and saw about 20 soldiers in the building. One of them, who was short, light-skinned and heavy-set, told me in Hebrew that I was to help him. He told me that I had to go inside houses that he would identify and open the door and windows and turn on the lights. He told me to tell anyone who was in the houses to go outside with their hands raised over their heads. He told me that if someone refused, I had to come outside and tell him and that if I didn't tell him the truth, he would kill me or put me in jail. The soldier said to me in Arabic, "You've been warned."

The soldier ordered to me to stand to the side and after about twenty minutes, he took me and we went in the al-Husri's yard. There were other soldiers there and the officer said to me, "Go inside and raise this red flag. Do not drop it. Do what we tell you." He gave me a red flag and ordered me to go into 'Azmi 'Arsan's house, which is next to the al-Husri house. The soldiers positioned themselves around the house and pointed their guns at me. I went inside and called out, "Is anyone home?" But I didn't see anybody. I turned on the lights and opened all of the doors and windows. When I finished, I went outside and went back to the soldier to tell him that there was nobody inside. The soldier asked me if I was sure that no one was home and I answered "yes." The soldier shook his head and spoke with other soldiers. I asked him, "You don't believe me?" He answered me, "I don't believe you. You're a liar."

The soldier talked on his walkie-talkie and then all of the soldiers surrounding the house fired their guns. They fired towards the house for about two minutes. Two soldiers approached the front door and another soldier grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me after them. I stood in the doorway and I saw one of them throw a stun grenade inside. There was a big explosion. Afterwards, two soldiers went inside, and the rest of the soldiers and I followed. Three soldiers went inside with dogs.

When we were inside, the soldiers fired and searched the entire house. After they had searched the first floor, one of the soldiers told me to open the door that leads to the second floor. Meanwhile, the soldiers positioned themselves throughout the house. One of the soldiers ordered me to break down the door. I broke through the door with a kick and saw that in the room there was a gas hose for cooking. I told the soldiers not to fire.

I went to the second floor, which is basically a separate house, and I turned on the lights, opened the door, windows and curtains and went back to the soldiers. One of the soldiers ordered me to stand next to the door and then the soldiers went inside and searched the second floor. They fired inside the house, in the kitchen and in the pantry, which was inside the kitchen. When the soldiers finished, they went outside and moved towards the al-Husri house.

Another soldier approached me and said to me in Hebrew, "Ahmad, we want your help." The officer also came up to me and said, "Will you help him just like you helped me!?" The soldier told me to go to Bilal Abu 'Amshah's house, which was about twenty meters from al-Husri's house, to go inside, open the door and windows, and turn on the lights. He told me that if someone was inside, I should tell him to go outside with his hands raised over his head.

I went to the house and raised a red flag. I did what the soldier told me and didn't find anyone in the house. I went up to the second floor and did the same thing. I went outside and went up to the soldiers standing next to the al-Husri house. I told the soldier that no one was home. I saw the soldier talking into his walkie-talkie and afterwards, the soldiers surrounded the house and fired at the door and windows for about two minutes. I saw one of the soldiers talking to a dog and then the dog ran inside. The rest of the soldiers went in after the dog and they brought me inside too. They searched the house and I saw them throw grenades into the house and open fire inside. They searched both floors and didn't find anybody.

When we went outside, the second soldier who had given me orders told me to go to 'Atta Salameh's house and to do the same thing. I went into 'Atta's house and did what I had done in the other houses. When the soldiers finished searching and we went outside, it was 8:00 PM.

Afterwards the same thing happened in Abu Ra'ed 'Ukasha's house. After we left 'Ukasha's house, we went to Abu Yussef a-Zalat's house. There were a lot of soldiers in this house. We stayed there for about half an hour during which the soldiers rested. I was inside with them.

Around 9:00 PM, the same soldier called me and took me to the second entrance of Abu Yussef a-Zalat's house. He asked me who owned the house next door. I told him that it was Husni 'Arsan's house and that his wife had a blue (Israeli) ID card. I told him that they were being heldwith the other camp residents in the UNRWA building. The lights in the house were turned off. The soldier ordered me to go inside this house. He gave me a neon stick. This is a stick that lights up that soldiers use to identify themselves so that other soldiers won't shoot them. I went to the doorway and asked if anyone was there. It was dark inside but I noticed something passing by me quickly. I was very scared and confused. I seemed like it was a small child. I called over to the soldiers, "There is a small child." I repeated this several times loudly. The soldiers called me to go outside immediately. I didn't listen to them, and moved closer to the boy. He hugged my legs tightly. I felt his face and shoulders and identified him as Hamadeh 'Awar Muqbal Gh'anem, age seven. He suffers from slight mental retardation. When I saw him, I remembered that soldiers had killed two of his brothers during the Intifada. I think that he ran away from his parents because of all of the trauma and commotion and went to hide in the Arsan's house while the soldiers were invading the camp.

I went out of the house as Hamadeh held on to my left thigh. When I went outside I told the soldiers that this was the small child who had been inside. A soldier approached us and asked the boy if there was anyone else inside. I heard Hamadeh say there was no one. One of the soldiers ordered me to take the boy to a military jeep that was standing opposite the 'Arsan house, so that the soldiers could take him to his parents. I put him in the jeep and went back to the two soldiers that were inside the house.

At that point, the soldier who had given me orders told me to go inside again and conduct a search of the house, open the doors and windows, and to turn on the lights. I did what the soldier had said and came back to him. He was next to Abu Yussef's house. Soldiers went into the 'Arsan house and fired in all directions. One of the soldiers ordered me to go inside with him. While I was standing next to the soldiers, one of them tried to interrogate me about the armed people in the village. "You know where they are. Why won't you tell us where they are?" I told him that I don't know where they are. He said to me, "Ahmad, you know where they're hiding. Tell us where they are." I told him that I didn't know.

We went outside after about a half hour. While we were standing in the doorway, the soldier who had ordered me to do things all of the time, told me that now I was going to go help another group. He told me that I had to help a different soldier just like I had helped him. Around 2:00 AM, a new soldier came up to me and said, "Ahmad, we want you to go inside 'Abdallah al-Bana's house and do the same thing."

I went to 'Abdallah's house and did what I had done in all of the other houses. When I had finished searching the house, I went back to the soldiers and told them that no one was home. The soldiers spread out around the house and fired at it for about two minutes. Afterwards, the soldiers who had been inside Husni 'Arsan's house took me to go inside 'Abdallah's house. They fired and threw grenades there as well and after the search, found no one.

The soldiers went outside and the third soldier in charge said to me, "I want you to open the Muad' Ben Jabal Mosque." The mosque is on the main road of the a-R'anam neighborhood. I went to the mosque and it was locked. I went back to the soldiers and told them that the door was locked and I could not open it. The soldier insisted that I open the door to the mosque, no matter what it took. I tried to but was unable. Eventually, I climbed onto the roofs of the stores next to the mosque and made it to one of the mosque's windows, on the second floor. I opened the window and went inside the mosque. I called out and asked if anyone was there but I didn't see anyone. I turned on the light and opened the windows and the main door.

I went back to the soldiers and told them that I hadn't found anything in the mosque. The soldiers went inside. One of them told me to stay close behind him. We went inside the mosque and the soldiers fired on the cabinets and closets. When they had finished their search, we went outside to Abu al-'Abd 'Arsan's house.

I went up to the second floor with the soldiers and saw about fifteen soldiers sitting in the guest room. The commanding officer whom I had helped at the beginning was also there. He told me to come and sit next to him. He asked me, "How are you?" and I said "Fine, thanks God." He said, "You see, Ahmad. These people who want war hurt the rest of you." He added, "Tell the parents of the boy you found that you saved him from death, because we almost fired at him." I told him that in the course of three months, two of his brothers had been killed by the Israeli army. I also told him that one was killed while throwing stones and the second was killed by undercover soldiers, who had wanted to kill somebody else who was in the same coffee shop where the brother had been. The officer called to the rest of the soldiers in the room and said to them, "Listen to what Ahmad has to say." I told the story a second time.

We stayed in the room until about 3:00 AM. Afterwards, the soldiers took me to the roof. One of them told me to go into the house next door by way of the window. This was Ahamd Darwish Ghanem's house. The soldier ordered me to go inside, conduct a search, and open the doors and windows. I went in through the window and looked inside but it was impossible to see anything because the house was full of dust and smoke. I went back to the soldier and told him that I couldn't see anything and he gave me four neon sticks.

I went in again through the window. The house was dark, full of smoke and covered in dust. I put three of the neon sticks on the floor in order to light up the room, and held on to the two remaining ones. I searched all three floors and didn't find anybody. I returned to the soldiers, who were waiting on Abu al-'Abd 'Arsan's roof. I told them that nobody was in the house. They fired inside and one of the rooms caught on fire. Five soldiers went inside through the window and one of them told me to follow them. Other soldiers came inside after me. Just like all the other times, the soldiers conducted a search, fired inside and didn't find anybody.

Afterwards, two soldiers returned me to the 'Arsan house and took me to the guest room on the second floor. After about ten minutes, the soldiers ordered me to go outside and get in the jeep with them. We got in the jeep and drove towards the main road. Around 4:00 AM, they dropped me off next to Nazmi a-Damiri's house and ordered me to go inside. I went up to the second floor with them and one of the soldiers brought over a chair and told me to sit down. Another soldier brought over two thin mattresses and I put them down on the ground and went to sleep. I was tired and had not had anything to eat or drink.

After about an hour, a soldier woke me up and said, "Get up Ahmad. We want to take you home." When I got up, one of the soldiers bound my hands with plastic handcuffs. They took me outside to the street, where there were two military jeeps. I got in one of them and the two jeeps drove on the main Tulkarm-Nablus road and continued to the DCO (District Coordinating Office), which is west of Tulkarm. The soldiers dropped me off at the DCO and sat me down in the tent where the people who were arrested were sitting. I know that the rooms next to the tent are the General Security Service's (GSS) and I saw a soldier go inside and look for something. Apparently, he didn't find anybody because he came back to me and said, "I don't know what to do with you."

Around 6:00 AM, the soldiers returned me to the Center for the Handicapped in the refugee camp and took off my handcuffs. I was dead tired, so I sat down on the ground to rest. Around 7:30 AM, another soldier called me, handcuffed me again and blindfolded me with a piece of cloth. They put me in a truck and we drove to the DCO where they brought me into a military tent, where I stayed for about two and a half hours. They took me to the tent where they hold people who have been arrested. I know that was where they took me because I knew that generally they took people who are arrested there, and because I talked to some other people there who were being detained.

Around 10:30 AM on Tuesday, 13 January 2004, somebody came up to me and asked me what my name was. I told him and he left the tent. After about a half hour, soldiers gave me a body search and brought me inside the room. When I went inside, they took off my blindfold and handcuffs. The guy who was sitting inside told me that he was a GSS officer and that he was responsible for the area. He asked me to sit down and began interrogating me. He asked about me, my relatives, and my friends. He also asked me if I know any Jews and I told him that my fomer boss was Jewish, when I had worked in agriculture. He asked me about people from Tulkarm R.C., some of whom are wanted by the army. I told him that I live in the camp and know everybody who lives there. He asked me to provide him with information, in other words to be a collaborator. I refused and said that this was not my job and that I would not a spy for anybody. He threatened to destroy the neighborhood of al-Ghanem, as they had done in the Jenin Refugee Camp. The officer threatened that if one of the people they were looking for is connected to me, he would find me, cut off my head and put me in administrative detention.

When he finished interrogating me, one of the soldiers handcuffed and blindfolded me and took me back to the tent. After about a half hour, another soldier took me to gate of the DCO. He took off the handcuffs and blindfold and told me, "Go home." It was about 1:30 PM.

Ahmad Abd al-Qader Ahmad 'Asaf, age 33, is married and the father of five. He is unemployed and a resident of Tulkarm Refugee Camp. The testimony was taken by 'Abd al-Karim Sa'adi, on 14 January 2004, at the witness' home.