Helicopter shoots at and wounds Mu'az Kataneh, Ramallah, January 2007

Mu'az Kattaneh , laborer

I am originally from a-Nazla a-Sharqiya. My father has leukemia, and I am the sole supporter of my family of six. I have two brothers in high school and a sister in the sixth grade. I also have two married sisters. I was unable to find work in Tulkarm, so three months ago I moved to Ramallah. I recently found work in a-Zamt clothing store, on Shamut Street , near Clock Square , in the center of the city.

Last Thursday [4 January], at 3:00 P.M., I was in the shop. I heard shots outside. We closed the shop's door and hid inside. There were ten people in the shop at the time: the owner, three clerks and me, and five female customers. We waited about an hour. The owner, ' Ala a-Zamt, who is twenty-four years old, called a few people on the phone, and they told him the army had left the area. He said we could go outside because the army had retreated, and in fact we didn't hear any shots at the time. We went into the street. I looked toward al-Minara Square and saw a group of army jeeps gathered there, about 70-100 meters from the shop, but, as I said, the gunfire had stopped.

I went in the opposite direction, to the south, to the building where I live, in Clock Square , about 40-50 meters from the shop. I live on the fourth floor. I went into the apartment and sat down for a bit. Around 4:15, I heard voices on the roof, and I went to see what was going on. Three young men who live on the second floor were on the roof. They were looking at al-Minara Square. I joined them. There were Israeli military jeeps, and an army bulldozer that had pushed aside Palestinian vehicles parked on the streets. They damaged them on purpose. I saw people throwing stones at the square, but didn't see any Palestinians firing weapons. The soldiers, who were inside the jeeps, fired live ammunition.

Around 4:30, I saw a helicopter hovering over the building. I have no idea how high it was. It fired at us, hitting me in the left shoulder blade. The bullet exited from the left side of my waist. I felt as if my midsection had exploded, and I became nauseated. I went and lay face down behind a nearby water container.

The guys who were on the roof ran away. A few seconds after that, the helicopter fired another bullet, which hit the roof. Bullet fragments struck me in the chest. I heard a sharp echo from the shot. I cried out, "I'm wounded, I'm wounded, help, help." I put my hand to where the bullet exited. About a minute after that, when the guys were sure that the helicopter had left, they picked me up and took me down to an ambulance that was waiting at Clock Square . The ambulance took me to the hospital.

I lost consciousness and only woke up the next day. I was in the Intensive Care Unit of Ramallah Governmental Hospital. A doctor told me that they had operated on me immediately upon my arrival at the hospital. The bullet that entered my shoulder blade had hit my lungs, and I entered the hospital in critical condition. The operation saved my life, and now I am in stable condition. I am hooked up to two tubes that drain the fluid from my lungs. I also suffered light injuries from the bullet fragments.

Mu'az Khairy Muhammad Rashid Kattaneh, 20, is a shop employee and a resident of Ramallah. His testimony was given to Iyad Hadad, at Ramallah Governmental Hospital, on 7 January 2007.