Kamal Zaid, victim's uncle

I work in farming for the most part, but also own a taxi that I operate. Last Friday [17 March], around 7:15 P.M., my brother 'Abd a-Rahman called me and asked me to go to his place and take his daughter Akaber [ Akaber 'Abd a-Rahman 'Izzat Zaid] to the doctor. She was injured a few days previously and needed to go back to the doctor so he could take out the stitches in her chin. Right away, I went to my brother's house and took Akaber, who was ready when I got there. When I got to Dr. Iyad's clinic, I saw young men running and shouting and motioning that the [Israeli] army was in the area. I parked my taxi about thirty meters from the clinic, turned off the engine, and before I could turn off the lights, I heard the sound of intense gunfire. I saw two soldiers, one on each side of the car, about 5-10 meters away, shooting. I felt the bullets hit me in the arm. Akaber, who was sitting next to me, fell over onto my arms. I looked at her and saw that she had been wounded, and that her head was bleeding from behind her ear.

Other soldiers were standing behind the fence alongside the road. A soldier also stood on the roof of a room, at a height about two meters higher than the road, about 5-6 meters from my taxi. I opened the door, picked up Akaber, and shouted at the soldiers. I cried out, "The child is dead. I have a child and I want to take her to the doctor." One of the soldiers began to shout at me in Hebrew, and another spoke in Arabic, telling me, "Throw the child onto the ground and lie down [on the ground]." I put the child down and did as the soldier requested. After a minute or so passed, a soldier shouted at me, "Get up. Lift up your clothes and turn around." All the time, I told them that the child was dead, but they continued to shout at me. I got up and lifted up my clothes, and the soldiers saw that I didn't have anything on me.

People were still moving about in the area, and I shouted at them to come and take the child. One woman approached along with a few young men. Because of the gunfire and the shouts of the soldiers, they stayed back. Two or three minutes later, the young men managed to take Akaber to the clinic. I joined them after the soldiers spread out on the road. I think there were about eight soldiers on the road.

When I was next to the clinic's door, I heard the sound of cars. I saw three jeeps arriving from the village center. They stopped on the road.

I was bleeding when I entered the clinic. I asked Dr. Iyad about Akaber's condition. He said that her heart was still beating, but that she doesn't move. He summoned an ambulance. The young men who were in the clinic called my brothers, 'Abd al-Qader and 'Abd a-Rahman, and they came to the clinic. The ambulance had not yet arrived. The doctor bandaged my arm and wiped away the blood. He wiped away the blood that covered the child's face. He tried to resuscitate her, but then stopped and waited for the ambulance. A few minutes later, the ambulance arrived and we tried to take Akaber outside, but the soldiers shouted at us. The soldiers opened fire, which scared us, and we went back into the clinic. My brother 'Abd al-Qader picked up Akaber and went toward the soldiers, and they let him move forward. I joined him and went to the ambulance, which was parked next to my taxi.

On the way to the ambulance, I saw three jeeps parked in the middle of the road, blocking the ambulance. When I got into the ambulance, the soldiers refused to clear the roadway. The ambulance driver asked them to clear the way. He motioned with his hand and spoke with them on the loudspeaker, but the soldiers demanded that he get out. They told him that they would not let him leave the area if I didn't get out and go over to the soldiers. I got out and the soldiers took me to one of the jeeps and put me in the back of it. One soldier was in the back and two were sitting in the front. The soldier in the back tied my hands with white plastic cuffs and blindfolded me with a piece of dark cloth, green or black, I am not sure which. The soldier took my ID card. Another soldier came over and asked me about people who were with me in the taxi. When I said that nobody was in the taxi with me other than the small child, he slapped my face and punched me. He also hit me in the face with the butt of his rifle, causing my nose to bleed. I felt my lips swelling up. The soldier questioned me for about fifteen minutes, during which he did not mention any specific name. He asked general questions about the people who were with me.

One of the soldiers who were sitting in the front of the jeep told me they would take me to the Palestinian ambulance. They put me into another jeep, my eyes blindfolded and my hands bound. I sensed that there was a dog in the vehicle. The cuffs began to hurt me. I heard one of the soldiers speak on the radio transmitter, and I heard that he was called Raslan. I asked the soldiers to remove the handcuffs. Raslan asked the other soldiers to cut the cuffs, and they cut them. Then I lifted up the blindfold and saw three soldiers and a dog in the back of the jeep, and two soldiers up front. My arm hurt from the wound. I asked the soldiers to take off the bandage. One of the soldiers hit me on the wound, grabbed my head and slammed it into the wall of the jeep. I remained in the jeep for more than two hours. They beat me and the dog licked the blood. The soldiers hit me each time that I lowered the blindfold. They threatened to bring the "Kushi" [the "black man"]. That is how they called the soldier who had beaten me in the other jeep. From what I heard, I realized that he was the one who had fired at the taxi and killed Akaber.

Around 11:30 P.M., one of the soldiers told me, "The Jenin ambulance has arrived," and order me to get ready. The soldiers took me out of the jeep and one of the guys from the ambulance led me by hand, my eyes still covered. One of the soldiers pushed me from behind. The soldiers gave me back my ID card, having checked it a few times. When I got to the hospital, I was told that Akaber was dead. At the hospital, I was told that I had been hit by three bullets, two in the arm and the third in my right thigh. The injury to my arm was the most severe.

Kamal 'Izzat Taher Zaid, 26, married with three children, is a farmer and a taxi driver, resident of al-Yamun in Jeniin district. His testimony was given to 'Atef Abu a-Rob in al-Yamun on 20 March 2006.