Ahlam Zalat, nurse
There were seven people in my family: my father, my late mother, my brothers and sisters, and me. We live in the Dhanabeh neighborhood of Tulkarm, in an apartment we rent on the second floor of a two-story house. The other apartment on our floor is inhabited by 'Abd a-Rahman al-Masri and his wife, Rauda Fahmawi. They do not have children. On the first floor there is an empty apartment and an apartment that was renovated three months ago and rented to a young man who wanted to get married and live there. He has not been at home much since he moved in. We have not seen him, and we don't know his name.
Last Sunday [30 April], my fianc?'s family invited my whole family to visit them the next day at their home, in Hajja. I wanted to get there refreshed, so I switched my shift at work at a-Zakat Hospital , in Tulkarm, with one of my friends, so I could work from two in the afternoon to nine at night, rather than from nine at night to nine in the morning.
I finished work at nine and went home. My parents and two of my sisters were at home. My brother Muhammad was not at home. He was at my aunt's house, in al-Fara'a. At 11:00 P.M., we all went to sleep. At 4:30 in the morning, I awoke in panic to the explosion of stun grenades in the street, near our house. The others in my family also woke up. I looked through the window and saw army jeeps parked about fifty meters from the house of our neighbor's, the 'Othmans. I heard soldiers call out on loudspeakers for the occupants of the house to go outside, without weapons. We thought they meant our neighbors, the 'Othmans, because they have young sons.
Ahlam Zalat in Al-Makassed Hospital, Jerusalem. Photo: Kareem Jubran, B'Tselem.
Mother went to the apartment across the hall and knocked on the door to ask what was happening. 'Abd a-Rahman and his wife were awake. They came to our apartment. We all sat in the living room, which is next to the kitchen with nothing separating them. The kitchen faces the 'Othman's house. My mother sat facing the kitchen window, my father was to her right, and next to him was Mr. al-Masri. I sat to the left of my mother, and Ansam and Rauda were next to me. The calls for the occupants to go outside continued. We continued to sit there and did not understand why they didn't go outside.
We sat there until about 5:15, all the time hearing calls on the loudspeaker and the sound of stun grenades exploding. At 5:00, we heard shots being fired. Then I heard the sound of glass shattering and saw that they were firing into our kitchen. I lost sensation in my left hand, which fell on my chest. When I tried to move away, I realized that I had also been hit in the right leg. I fell to the floor and began to scream, like everybody else in the house. The gunfire lasted for about a minute. One of my sisters got up and turned on the light, and I saw my mother sitting in her place. I saw that she had been seriously wounded in the forehead, above the right eye. She was about to die. Our neighbor, 'Abd a-Rahman, [who is a diabetic, s.m.] was lying on the floor. I later learned that he had fainted. My father and sisters went outside, screaming as they went. I remained lying there on the floor. About ten minutes later, father came back, picked me up, and sat me down on a chair. He and Mrs. al-Masri took me outside. In the street, I saw lots of army jeeps.
More than fifty meters away was a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance. My father tried to get the soldiers to let the ambulance come close and take me, but the soldiers refused. My father, helped by my sister, picked me up again, and took me to the ambulance, which transported me to the government hospital in Tulkarm. I was X-rayed and treated. I was then taken to a-Zakat Hospital , where I underwent more tests. The physicians decided to transfer me to Rafidiya Hospital , in Nablus . One bullet had shattered bones in my right thigh. Three other bullets hit me in the left hand. The doctors operated on my hand and thigh. After that, I was taken to Al-Makassed Hospital , in Jerusalem , because I have to undergo more thigh and hand operations.
Ahlam Yusef Mahmoud Zalat, 21, is a nurse and a resident of Tulkarm. Her testimony was given to Karim Jubran at Al-Makassed Hospital, East Jerusalem, on 4 May 2006.
