Hazem Ma’ali, 35

Yesterday [Friday, 1 August], I was driving with my wife and three daughters from our home in Ramallah to my cousin’s wedding in Jenin. Around 3:15 P.M., as we passed the turnoff to Yizhar, a big rock suddenly smashed through the windshield and hit both my wife and our daughter Hadil , who is six and a half, in the head. I didn't see anybody on the side of the road beforehand, maybe because I was involved in our conversation and was concentrating on the driving. My wife, Falastin, who is six months pregnant, bled a lot and lost consciousness. I didn't realize that Hadil , who was sitting behind me, had also been hit and lost consciousness, and had slipped to the floor. I stopped the car, regained my composure, and drove to the Huwara checkpoint.

At the checkpoint, an army medic treated my wife. It was then that I realized Hadil  had been injured too. The other girls looked okay, but later we found out that Ra’aya, who is two and half, had been scratched by the rock. In the meantime, policemen and an official from the Department for Coordination and Liaison arrived and began to investigate. The driver of a Palestinian taxi that had been driving behind me had seen what happened. He gave a statement to the police, telling them that he saw a black car speed from the spot toward Yizhar.

I demanded that the DCL official arrange for my wife and daughter to go a hospital in Israel for treatment. He explained that it would be better if they went first to hospital in Nablus, and that meanwhile the DCL would prepare permits for us to enter Israel. A Red Crescent ambulance came to the checkpoint and took us to Refidiyah Hospital, in Nablus. About 8:00 P.M., after we received the permits to enter Israel, we left by ambulance for the Tapuah checkpoint. There we switched to an Israeli ambulance, which took us to Tel Aviv. On the way, an investigator from the Ariel police station called me, but I couldn’t talk to him and asked that he call back later.
Afterwards, the taxi driver that had been behind us told me that the police were searching for the car he’d seen, but I don’t know if they found it.

My wife is in the neurosurgery department at Ichilov Hospital. Her condition is serious, and she is suffering intra-cranial bleeding. The physicians haven’t yet decided if, because of the pregnancy, they’ll have to operate.

Hadil is at Dana Children’s Hospital, which is part of Ichilov, also in serious condition. She has a fractured skill and an eye injury. The physicians are still examining her, and the extent of her injuries is still unclear.

Hazem 'Aziz Hasan Ma'ali, 35, married with three daughter, is a food distributor and a resident of Ramallah. His testimony was given to Ronen Shimoni on 2 August 2008 at Ichilov Hospital, Tel Aviv.