Israeli Border Police shoot and kill Palestinian Fayez Damdum (17), who skidded on his motorcycle while riding behind their jeep, and then issue false statement he was about to hurl a Molotov cocktail

On Saturday, 1 October 2022, at around 3:30 P.M., two Border Police vehicles were driving along the main road of al-’Eizariyah, a Palestinian town that lies east of Jerusalem. Fayez Damdum, a 17-year-old local, was riding a motorcycle behind them with a friend sitting behind him. At some point, the Border Police vehicles slowed down and the motorcycle skidded, apparently after Damdum braked suddenly. His friend managed to jump off the motorcycle and flee.

Damdum was dragged by the motorcycle for several meters, and then got up and ran away. Officers who were in the vehicles fired several shots at him, hitting him in the back of the neck. He went on for several meters more before falling down. The officers then gave him first aid. A Palestinian paramedic and some Palestinian youths who arrived at the scene took over from them, until an ambulance came and took him to a medical clinic in Abu Dis, where he was pronounced dead. Shortly after the shooting, the officers began firing tear gas to disperse residents who had gathered at the scene, some of whom also threw stones at them.

The Border Police issued a statement (Hebrew) saying: “During violent rioting, combatants with the Israel Police Border Police neutralized a terrorist who was holding a Molotov cocktail in his hand and trying to hurl it at our forces, who were operating in al-’Eizariyah. The rioting included throwing of stones, explosive devices and Molotov cocktails at our forces, who responded with crowd control weapons.”

B’Tselem’s investigation found that this description is entirely divorced from reality. The investigation, which included eyewitness testimonies, footage from a security camera located about 100 meters away from the scene of the incident, and videos of the scene filmed immediately after the shooting, clearly shows there was no “rioting” in the town at the time. Additionally, Damdum was shot from behind, while running away from the officers.

A.A., the friend who was riding behind Damdum on the motorcycle, described what happened in a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher ‘Amer ‘Aruri on 2 October 2022:

Fayez and I were riding around town on my motorbike, as usual. Fayez was driving and I was sitting behind him. At around 3:30 P.M., we saw two Border Police jeeps passing by a place called the Martyr’s Yard near the town council building. The two jeeps were driving along the road without any disturbance, and no stones were thrown at them. We followed them out of curiosity. We were about 10 meters behind them. When we got to the area of the orphans’ school, the two jeeps suddenly slowed to a near stop. We kept going until we were a few meters away from them, and then the motorcbike skidded, I guess because Fayez tried to brake. I jumped off the bike and ran away. Fayez fell off it.

I kept looking back as I was running, to see what was going on. Fayez got up and ran away, and officers who got out of one of the jeeps immediately fired about five shots at him. Fayez kept going for a few meters and then fell down. The officers ran over to him and surrounded him. I don’t know what happened after that because I left the area, and because the officers started shooting in order to disperse people who were gathering there.

B.B., a friend of Damdum’s who works as a motorcycle courier in the town, saw Damdum and his friend riding behind the Border Police jeeps. He started riding behind them, after Damdum called out to him to join them. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher ‘Amer ‘Aruri on 2 October 2022, he described what he saw:

Things were quiet in al-’Eizariyah at the time. It was Saturday, and the street was full of cars because people had come from Jerusalem to shop in al-’Eizariyah. There are no clashes when that’s the situation, and no one was throwing stones at the jeeps. When the two jeeps were near the orphans’ school, they suddenly slowed and stopped in the middle of the road. Fayez’s motorbike skidded. The guy who was sitting behind him ran away and Fayez fell off the bike. The bike continued to slide towards the jeeps, but didn’t hit them. Fayez tried to get up and run away, and I ran too. Then I heard four or five shots, and Fayez fell down. The officers fired live shots in the air, fired tear gas canisters and threw stun grenades at people who tried to get closer to see what was happening. I was scared and left the area.