Soldiers shot and killed Hamadah Shtiwi, Kfar Qadum, Nablus district, July 2006

A.C., age 30

On 26 July, at around 6:45 P.M., I arrived at the village square from the east. When I got to the eastern side of the square, I saw three white Volkswagen Caravel minibuses arriving at the square. One of them had Palestinian plates and the other two had yellow Israeli plates. Twelve people got out of the minibuses.

I stood there watching what was happening. I saw Hamadah Shtiwi, whom I know very well, come to the square from the west. About eight of the men I saw [who had gotten out of the minibuses] grabbed him and took him to a corner of the olive press that is located in the square. That took about two minutes. Then I saw the men, who were in civilian clothes, change into military dress. I realized they were Israeli special forces.

In the meantime, army jeeps arrived at the square. From one of the jeeps, soldiers took helmets and bullet-proof vests and distributed them to the men who had previously been in civilian dress. I stood in the eastern corner [of the square] and tried to make my way westward, but one of the soldiers standing there did not let me pass. The soldiers undressed Hamadah to his underpants, and then he got dressed. They knocked in the door of the olive press and took Hamadah inside.

I was very curious, so I turned around and five minutes later had managed to get to the house of a relative of mine. Around 7:00, I went onto the roof of the two-story house. The house is next to the olive press and overlooks the whole square. While on the roof, I heard the sound of somebody call out in Arabic on a loudspeaker, "whoever is in the house, come outside." The demand was made a few times, and it was directed to Fadawa Qadumi's house, which was located a few meters from the square. I heard the homeowners say nobody was in the house. The soldier said that if nobody emerged from the house, it would be demolished. An army bulldozer started to move from the square toward Qadumi's house. I heard the sound of the explosion of two stun grenades that had been thrown into the yard, and then the bulldozer started to demolish the wall of the house.

Then I saw the soldiers take a few guys west toward the diwan (small guest reception structure) of the 'Obeid family, which is in the square. They were all cuffed and blindfolded. Then, an army jeep pulled up and stopped opposite the diwan , and the soldiers took out 'Oday Muhammad Hussein Qadumi and put him in the diwan . The soldiers also brought 'Abd al-Hamid 'Azat Khaled Shtiwi. They took him there by foot, passing under the house I was in.

Hamadah Shtiwi was inside the olive press with the soldiers. I heard shouts and screams, Hamadah screaming "Allah Akbar" and "Abba Abba ya habibi" That went on for about fifteen minutes.

Around 11:00 P.M., the army bulldozer stopped what it was doing, turned around, and returned to the square. An army jeep pulled up to the square and the soldiers took food from the jeep and gave it to the soldiers who were there. While they were eating, it was quiet in the area. Five soldiers standing next to the jeeps opposite the diwan did not eat.

I saw Hamadah Shtiwi quietly leave the olive press and walk in a southerly direction on the street under the house whose roof I was on. I moved back a bit. After a short while, I heard gun shots and one of the soldiers shout "from here, from here." I went back to see what happened and saw Hamadah on the road, next to the bottom part of the house. He was right below me. He fell on his face, his hands to the sides of his body. It was about 11:30-11:45. There is a street light at the corner, so I could see well in the dark.

The soldiers went over to him and aimed their rifles at him. They positioned themselves, but Hamadah did not move. Later, an army ambulance came and three soldiers got out of it. They gave Hamadah first-aid and gave him oxygen to try to resuscitate him. I saw blood coming from his head and hands. Three minutes later, they picked him up and put him in the ambulance, which drove off.

Afterwards, I saw the soldiers release 'Abd al-Hamid Shtiwi, 46, one of the men who had been held in the diwan .

Two large personnel carriers pulled up. The soldiers put four of the guys into one of the vehicles and a guy by the name of Qeysar into an army jeep alone with the soldiers. The vehicles drove off. The soldiers took the blindfolds off the four guys who remained, took them to the eastern side of the square, where they removed the cuffs and let them go.

The details of the witness are on file at B'Tselem.