Grave suspicion of extrajudicial execution of two wounded Palestinians, November 2006

Shadi Kabalh, Jawal Cellular Phone Company technician

I live with my wife, Ibtisam, in al-Yamun. Our apartment is on the second floor of the house in which my parents and brothers live. The house is in the Labdi neighborhood, in the southern part of the village.

Last Wednesday, in the very early-morning hours, my wife and I were asleep in our apartment. My whole family was at home. Around two o'clock, the sound of intense gunfire in the neighborhood woke us up. I didn't check to see what was happening and remained in bed.

After about 10-15 minutes passed, I got up and looked out the kitchen window at the inner courtyard of the house. I saw my father, and two men who were lying on the floor in the courtyard. A jeep was parked next to the entrance. One of the soldiers called out, "Open the door, everybody in the house, get out." He threw a stun grenade into the courtyard. He may have thrown more than one.

I went back and sat down on the bed. My wife asked what was happening. I told her that we should not move, and only go downstairs if they called us. I heard the sound of a door opening and somebody walking inside the house, but I didn't see anything. Later, I heard a voice say, "Everybody in the house, get out." I heard the soldier ask if anybody was still in the house. My mother replied, "My son and his wife are upstairs." The soldier ordered her to call us, and my brother Bashar came and told us to come down. I went down with my wife and we saw with my family in the courtyard, opposite the front gate. The young men were lying on the floor, and the soldiers were still outside, outside the main gate.

Two soldiers entered via the outside door of the storage room. Another soldier then came in through the main door, and he also went into the storage room. The soldiers did not ask us anything. The heads of the two young men were visible. Their bodies were covered. The soldiers did not go over to them and did not speak with them. Three of four minutes after the third soldier went into the storage room, I heard one shot from inside the room. The young guy's body, which was partially in the room, moved a bit. I focused my vision, and heard another shot, at Mahmud, who was lying on the floor outside the room. I couldn't see exactly where he was hit, because of my position.

Immediately after the gunfire, the soldiers spoke by walkie-talkie, and then they began to call us. They shined a laser beam at us. First they turned to my father and told him, "You, Haj…" They told him to lift up the clothes on the upper part of his body, and to take off his pants and turn around in front of them. They called us one after the other [to do the same]. Everyone who was checked was put in the storage room. The soldier, who spoke a garbled Arabic, told me to lift up my clothes, and I also went into the room. One of the soldiers searched my body, and then he ordered me to sit down.

After the soldiers put us in the room, they asked my wife if anybody remained in the house, and threatened to shoot her if she lied. They asked about weapons, and she told them that she only had her jewelry and that there weren't any weapons. My wife and mother came into the [storage] room and joined us. I don't recall when the soldiers asked for our ID cards, but I remember that my brother Mujahed was the one who brought them into the room.

Later, they took everybody into the street, except for Salah, who opened the windows and doors. Then he also came to the street. Then I heard shots inside the house. After a while, the soldiers took us all, except for my parents and wife. They walked us down the street toward the site of the incident. One jeep drove in front of us and a second jeep drove behind us. On the way, we came across a body in the middle of the street. Bashar and Muhanad picked it up and put it on the side.

Afterwards, the soldiers took us in the jeeps. They put Mujahed and me in the same jeep and drove us to Sallem. After an hour and a half there, they took me to an interrogation room. A man in civilian clothes was in the room and he asked me personal questions, what my name was and what I do for a living. I answered his questions. He asked me what happened, and I told him that the army had come to our house and had brought me here. He did not ask me about the young men who were at our house. Between 8:00 and 8:30 A.M., they released us. We left Sallem and went home.

Shadi Muhammad Jamil Qabaleh, 30, and married is a Jawal Cellular Phone Company technician, and a resident of al-Yamun in Jenin district. His testimony was given to 'Atef Abu a-Rub at the witness's house on 12 November 2006.