Testimonies

Amneh Kabaleh, mother of 11

My husband and I were in our bedroom, and our children were in their room. My son Shadi was with his wife in their apartment. A little after 1:30 in the morning, I heard a loud sound of explosions near the house. I opened the door of the room to see what was happening, and heard shouts coming from near the gate of the house. Somebody there said, "For Allah's sake, for Allah's sake, open!" I asked my husband to open the gate. The fellow outside shouted, "Give them first-aid'… Open!" My husband went to the courtyard and asked who was there. I heard someone say, "We have wounded, open up, let them stay with you until the ambulance comes."

My husband opened the gate, brought the two wounded men in, and closed the gate. My husband, my son Bashar, and I began to help the young men. They were not armed. People called us to say that an ambulance had been summoned. I heard the sound of a vehicle next to the house and thought it was the ambulance. I quietly opened the door of the storage room, which faces the street, and saw it was an army vehicle. I closed the door and went back and told my husband that it was an army vehicle. My husband and I asked the wounded men to keep quiet.

We heard a voice call out on a loudspeaker several times, "Abu Saliman Kabaleh, open the door." My husband was on his way to open the gate when the soldiers threw a stun grenade into the courtyard. My husband opened the gate and I heard a soldier say, "Everybody you have in the house get out." The soldier moved back and ordered my husband to open the second half of the gate. He ordered all of us to sit

facing the

gate, and my husband, the children, and I sat down there. Three soldiers entered the courtyard. The wounded fellows were close to the entrance to the house. Hamadeh remained where we had laid him down, and the other fellow moved and was lying at the entrance to the storage room, his body inside and his legs outside. The soldiers entered the storage room and a few seconds later, I heard two or three shots fired from inside the house. After the army left, I saw lots of blood where Salim was lying.

Then the soldiers ordered my husband and children to lift up their clothes, and then took them away. After that, the soldiers ordered me and my son's wife and then my son Salah to open all the windows and doors of the house. They warned him that if any door remained closed, they would shoot him. Salah went and opened all the doors.

Then the soldiers entered, and I heard gunshots in the kitchen and in the rooms. They fired shots in a few of the rooms and then went up to my son Shadi's apartment and fired shots there as well. I saw the soldiers holding a bag with cell phones that belongs to Shadi. He sells and repairs cell phones. I did not dare ask them about that. I was really worried about my sons. When the soldiers left, the two young men were already dead. They were covered in blankets, which were drenched in blood, and looked like they were shot.

Amneh Yusef Ibrahim Kabaleh, 55, married with eleven children, is a homemaker, and a resident of al-Yamun in Jenin district. Her testimony was given to 'Atef Abu a-Rub at the witness's house on 9 November 2006.