'Adnan Shheiber, driver

I live with my wife and our eight children in a-Sabra. My father and brothers live in the same neighborhood.

On Saturday, 20 October, my father didn't feel well and we took him to a-Shifa'a Hospital, in Gaza . He had dizzy spells and trouble moving. The doctors examined him and found that he had a lack of blood. He was given two portions of blood and felt better. Later, the doctors discharged him.

The next afternoon, he felt ill again. He was exhausted. We took him to the hospital and the doctors gave him four portions of blood. This time, the transfusion didn't help and he remained in the hospital. He couldn't eat or drink. He couldn't digest anything. When we made him eat a couple of teaspoons of yoghurt, he vomited everything he had in his stomach, including a lot of blood.

Then the doctors realized he was bleeding internally very badly and decided to transfer him to a hospital in Israel . They said that if they operated on him at Shifa'a, there was only a ten percent chance it would be successful, while in Israel the chances were ninety percent. We immediately requested a permit to enter Israel .

The next day, October 22, we received the permit to take my father to Barzilai Hospital , in Ashkelon . It takes about 15 minutes to get from Erez Checkpoint to Barzilai. At 4:30 in the afternoon, we left by ambulance for Erez. When we exited the hospital, my father started bleeding from his mouth and nose. We reached the checkpoint at about 4:50. My father was hooked up to oxygen and a blood transfusion. At the Palestinian side of the checkpoint, the ambulance driver handed over his, mine, the doctor's, and the nurse's ID cards. 15 minutes later, we were asked to continue to the Israeli side. I got out of the ambulance to pass through the lane set aside for people, and the ambulance went in the lane designated for it.

When I got to the gate, the soldiers opened it and I entered the Israeli side. The soldiers checked me and took my ID card. They told me to wait, and that they would give me a permit to cross in a few minutes. About 20 minutes later, one of the soldiers told me to take my ID card and go back to Gaza . He said, “Your ‘guys' from Hamas have really gone to far with the Qassam rockets.” I told him we were not connected with that, and that my father's life was in danger. He said that he doesn't make the decisions, the army does. Walid, the Palestinian liaison official, was standing next to the soldier and he tried to convince him to let my father cross, but the soldier ignored him. I returned home and my father went back to a-Shifa'a Hospital. I was very sad. I was afraid my father would die. His situation continued to deteriorate.

The next morning, October 23, my father, the ambulance driver, two doctors from the hospital, and I went again to Erez Checkpoint. We got there around 9:45 in the morning. We got out of the ambulance and handed over our ID cards to the Palestinian liaison official. At about 10:20, they let me enter the Israeli side. There, the soldiers searched me and took my ID card. They ordered me to wait. A few minutes later, I received permission. I decided to wait there until they let the ambulance cross.

Around noon, the Israeli ambulance arrived. A few minutes later, my brother Hatem, who was in the Palestinian liaison official's office, told me by telephone that they let the ambulance that was driving my father enter the crossing. I waited there but couldn't see what was happening. Around 1:30 in the afternoon, Hatem called and said that the Palestinian liaison official said that our father had died. I went back to the Palestinian side. About half an hour later, they brought the body to us.

'Adnan Nimer Muhammad Shheiber, 39, married with eight children, is a driver and a resident of a-Sabra neighborhood of Gaza. His testimony was given to Muhammad Sabah, at the witness’s home on 30 October.