In the early hours of Tuesday, 18 March 2025, several dozen young Palestinians were sitting in a café in the Kafr Saba neighborhood of eastern Qalqilyah. The café, called a-Saha, is in a covered temporary structure, with tables outside in a fenced yard. Around 2:20 A.M., about 20 officers from the Gidonim unit of the Israeli police arrived in a small truck and a pickup with Palestinian license plates, coming from the direction of a-Salam Street. The officers exited the vehicles, ran toward the crowded café and began shooting live rounds at it. A few minutes later, about seven more vehicles of Israeli forces arrived.
Khaled Quran. Used under section 27A
The people in the café started running in all directions. At least three were hit by the gunfire, some in the café and others after fleeing west to a side street and trying to escape south. Among those fleeing was Khaled Qur’an, a 25-year-old who worked as a laborer and was supposed to get married a few days later. He was shot in the abdomen after leaving the café through the western gate. Some young men took him to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus, where he was pronounced dead. After about two minutes of intense shooting, the forces entered the café, detained at least 17 Palestinians, handcuffed them, and held them for about an hour lying face down on the ground. The forces then left the area, taking two detainees with them, at least one of whom was injured.
In a statement issued about the incident, the military said that "during an operation by the Gidonim unit of the Israeli Police in Qalqilya, Ephraim Brigade, the forces killed one terrorist and injured others after the terrorists opened fire at them. The wanted persons detained and the weapons seized were transferred for further handling and investigation." However, B’Tselem’s investigation found that Quran was not an armed operative and that no Palestinian fire preceded the raid and shooting at the café. This is also evident in video footage published by the police, which shows the officers’ assault on the café while shooting at young people fleeing the scene. The military’s statement included photos of weapons allegedly seized during the raid: a single handgun, a stun grenade, a knife and several vests.
Detainees lying handcuffed in the cafe. Used under section 27A
Several people who were at the scene gave testimonies to B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi on 22 March 2025:
A.F., 26, related in his testimony:
Everyone was playing cards or drinking hot drinks. The café is made up of a large structure and a yard with tables and chairs, surrounded by a fence.
Suddenly, we heard people shouting that special forces and soldiers had arrived. We were surprised, and everyone there got up and started running to avoid getting hurt. I ran south towards the street with the Palestinian police station. Others ran up the street that leads north to the Qalqiliyah-Nablus road, and some ran west towards the Abu ‘Obeida mosque. While I was running, soldiers (police officers) fired several shots at me, which hit me in the right hand, waist and right leg. I fell down, and some guys took me in a private car to Darwish Nazal Hospital.
The entrance to the café. Photo by Abdulkarim Sadi, B’Tselem
When I got to the hospital, I was told that a guy named Khaled Quran was killed running to the same street as me. I also heard another guy was injured trying to escape, and that two guys were arrested in the café. I didn’t know they’d been arrested. I’m still here in hospital, after I was shot for no reason. My only "sin" was being scared of the soldiers when they raided the place and fired in every direction.
‘A.W., 20, shared in his testimony:
Around 2:20 A.M., I was sitting in the yard of a-Saha" café with friends, including A.F., playing cards. There were dozens of other customers there.
Suddenly, I heard a guy shouting, "Israeli special forces." I looked east and saw a small truck (a white Mercedes) and a white Toyota pickup. About twenty Israeli soldiers (police officers) in uniform got out of the vehicles and ran west, towards the café. When they were about 10-15 meters from the café, they started firing live shots at the yard and the building. Chaos broke out and people started running in every direction. I ran west to the gate that opens onto the side street that leads to the Abu ‘Obeida mosque.
The front of the café and a-Salam Street from which the forces arrived. Photo by Abdulkarim Sadi, B’Tselem
When I reached the side street, I saw a guy lying on the ground. He was bleeding heavily, and it was very scary. I started shouting, "Ambulance! Ambulance!" but I couldn’t stay there because the shooting continued. The sound of the gunfire was muffled, not sharp and high-pitched like usual. I think they were using a silencer. I ran south to the a-Nus minimarket on the main road and hid inside.
The shooting lasted about two minutes. From inside the minimarket, I saw people running in all directions. After about two minutes, military reinforcements arrived, and I saw seven military vehicles of various types and sizes. I heard guys shouting. Later, I scrolled through social media and found out the soldiers had arrested dozens of guys in the café. I saw a picture of dozens of guys handcuffed and lying face down in the café yard.
After about an hour, the forces started leaving the area. I went back to the café to understand what happened. I saw a lot of blood on the side street, where the injured guy I saw earlier had been lying. I also saw blood in the café – in the yard and in the building. On the ground, I saw bloodstained clothes, bandages and medical syringes. Walking around there, I heard the soldiers had arrested two "wanted" guys from the café, and that one of them was injured. I also learned that my friend A.F. was injured and taken to Darwish Nazal Government Hospital.
Later, at the hospital, they announced the guy who was lying on the ground was dead. They said his name was Khaled al-Quran.
Israel’s regime of apartheid and occupation is inextricably bound up in human rights violations. B’Tselem strives to end this regime, as that is the only way forward to a future in which human rights, democracy, liberty and equality are ensured to all people, both Palestinian and Israeli, living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Since the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, Israel has acted in a coordinated and deliberate manner to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip, committing genocide against its residents. In light of Israel’s actions in Gaza, the public statements made by Israeli decision-makers, and the international community’s failure to take effective action, there is a serious risk that the Israeli regime will expand the genocide to other areas under its control—first and foremost, the West Bank.
B’Tselem calls on the Israeli public and the international community to use every tool available under international law to bring an immediate end to Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.
