Testimonies

Muhammad Salim, 16

On Saturday, 5 January 2008, at around 11:00 A.M., army troops entered 'Azzun in two jeeps - a small jeep and a Hummer. I stood with a group of young people at the corner of As'ad al-Mansur Street, on the western side of the square. We threw stones at the soldiers.

The Hummer parked, facing north, about seven meters from where we were standing. The small jeep parked at the eastern corner of 'Azzun Mosque, opposite the town hall, and was facing us.

I threw stones at the Hummer. I looked at the small jeep and suddenly saw a flash of gunfire come from the firing hole in the front windshield of the jeep. A bullet hit me in the right leg and I fell to the ground. I cried out in pain and called for help. While I was crawling toward As'ad Mansur Street, I saw the small jeep quickly go around the square and stop, facing south. The soldier sitting next to the driver was opposite me, about four or five meters away. At that moment, the Hummer began to move and went around the square to where the jeep was when I was shot. The jeeps simply changed places.

I saw a rifle barrel peek out of the side window of the small jeep, behind the driver. The soldier shot me twice. The first bullet hit me under the right knee and the second struck the road. None of the soldiers got out of the jeeps to give me first-aid. The whole incident took about three minutes.

Muhammad Salim after the incident. Photo: 'Abd al-Karim Sa'adi. Photo: B'Tselem.

The two bullets that hit me were live ammunition. Although the jeeps were still there, young men from the village came over to me, picked me up and carried me to a private car that took me to the medical center in 'Azzun.

From there, I was taken by ambulance to the UNRWA hospital in Qalqiliya. The emergency-room doctors stopped the bleeding and X-rayed me. The X-ray showed that the bullet had broken my thigh. Because it was a complicated medical situation, I was taken to Refidiyah Hospital, in Nablus, where the doctors fitted me with a metal brace. The bullet also injured the nerve that controls the leg. I was hospitalized in Refidiyah Hospital for about two weeks. I still can't move my right leg, and I move about with crutches and in a wheelchair.

Muhammad Faisal Muhammad Salim is a laborer and lives in ‘Azzun. He gave the testimony to ‘Abd al-Karim Sa'adi in ‘Azzun on 8 January 2008.