A 15-year-old threw stones. Soldiers shot him dead.
On Friday, 28 April 2023, at around 2:00 P.M., soldiers arrived at the Khirbet Tuqu’ archeological site, which residents of the Palestinian village of Tuqu’ use for recreational purposes. When youths who were at the site noticed the soldiers, about twenty of them threw stones at them from a distance of about 150 meters. The soldiers fired live rounds at the youths, but no one was hit. About half an hour later, Mustafa Sabah (15) and another Palestinian arrived at the scene. Sabah picked up a few stones, ran toward the soldiers, stopped about 50 meters away from them and threw three stones at them.
The soldiers fired at least six shots at him. Two bullets hit Sabah in the chest, and he fell face down. Another young man was slightly injured in the knee. The soldiers kept shooting. The young men shouted at them that someone had been hurt, and shortly after, the shooting stopped. It was only then that Sabah was taken to a clinic in the village, where he was pronounced dead.
The soldiers who shot Sabah were well protected. They used live fire, despite being in no danger, and kept shooting at the youths even after hitting Sabah, still facing no danger. The IDF Spokesperson did say a military police investigation had been launched, but this statement does not imply that the military believes an investigation is necessary because the soldiers or their commanders might have broken the law.
The opposite is true: the IDF Spokesperson regularly releases such statements in order to deflect criticism and keep up the pretense that the Israeli military investigates itself, such that there is no need for external interventions. These investigations, however, as B’Tselem and other human rights organizations have repeatedly shown, are nothing more than a whitewashing mechanism that allows the military to continue implementing the same illegal, immoral lethal policy without interruption or accountability.
B’Tselem’s field researcher ‘Amer’ Aruri collected testimonies from two Palestinians preseent during the incident:
In his testimony, A.A. said:
On Friday, 28 April 2023, a little after 2:00 P.M., I heard there were clashes between young men and the occupation forces at the Khirbet Tuqu’ archeological site. I went over with Mustafa Sabah. I usually film incidents like these and post the footage on social media. We arrived at the place at around 2:30 P.M. There were about 20 young men there, throwing stones from a distance of about 150 meters at six soldiers. The stones didn’t reach the soldiers, who fired live rounds intermittently.
After about five minutes, Mustafa went to the front of the young guys and then ran towards the soldiers, even though the guys shouted at him not to go forward and to stay next to them. He wouldn’t listen and continued forward, and when he was about 50 meters away, he threw three stones, and the soldiers fired about four bullets. I saw Mustafa fall face down. Unfortunately, I didn’t film the hit. I just watched what was happening. He was martyred five minutes after we got to the area of the clashes.
After Mustafa fell to the ground, the soldiers kept shooting. I tried to get to him, and a bullet grazed my left knee. Luckily, the bullet didn’t penetrate, and I didn’t need treatment. The young guys started shouting to the soldiers that someone had been hit. The shooting went on for a little bit longer and then stopped. We went over to Mustafa and turned him over on his back. I saw he’d been hit in the middle of the chest.
We picked up the martyr and took him to a car whose owner drove him away. I think he was no longer alive. At the Tuqu’ clinic, they tried to resuscitate him and failed, and then they pronounced him dead.
N.A. recounted:
On Friday, 28 April 2023, at around 2:00 P.M., I took a walk with friends in the Khirbet Tuqu’ archaeological site, where residents of our village like to walk in the evenings. We saw six soldiers coming from the main road and going up towards the Khirbeh. When they were 100 to 150 meters away from us, about 20 young guys and teens threw stones at them, to prevent them from advancing. The soldiers fired live rounds intermittently. I hid behind a rock and watched what was happening. I knew that if I didn’t hide, I might get hit by the gunfire.
At around 2:30 P.M., Mustafa Sabah arrived, along with another young man. I told Mustafa to hide behind the rock with us so he wouldn’t get hurt. He didn’t listen and advanced towards the soldiers. We shouted at him that if he went forward, he would die and that the army was using live fire, but he started running towards the soldiers. I heard about four shots. I was scared, so I ducked. I was about 200 meters away from the soldiers.
I heard people shouting that Mustafa was hurt. The young guys tried to shout to the soldiers to stop shooting and that there was a martyr, and then the shooting stopped. I advanced with some young guys and teens and saw Mustafa lying on his stomach. The young guys turned him over on his back, and I saw a bullet wound in the chest area. The guys picked him up and took him towards the village, and from there, he was taken in a local car to the Tuqu’ clinic. Mustafa wasn’t breathing when they took him away. People who checked him said he had no pulse, so I assumed he had already passed away. Later, I found out he had been martyred.
In a testimony she gave B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari on 16 May 2023, Mustafa’s mother, Munirah Sabah (36), said:
I live with my husband ‘Amer (44), a taxi driver, and our four children, Yazan (18), who’s been at Megiddo Prison for 16 months now on charges of stone-throwing but hasn’t been tried yet, Ruaa (6), Salam (18 months) and Raafat (6 months), who has cerebral palsy. I’ve lost six of my children over the years. Muhammad was 17 when he died of cancer, and the rest either had cerebral palsy or birth defects and died over the years. Now we’ve also lost our son Mustafa, who was only 15 years old. The occupation ended his life with a bullet to the chest and buried his dreams.
It happened on Friday, 28 April 2023. That morning, when we woke up, I made breakfast for everyone. Mustafa got ready and went out with his father to pray. Then they came home, and my husband asked Mustafa to stay home, look after his sister and clean up the garden a bit while we took Raafat to a doctor’s appointment.
We went to the doctor in Bethlehem and returned at around 3:00 P.M. On the way, my husband dropped Raafat and me off at my parents’ for a visit and continued home. I saw on social media that there were clashes between children who were throwing stones and soldiers in the al-Khirbeh area. As soon as I walked into my parents’ house, my brother Yusef got a phone call telling him my son had been injured in the clashes. My heart stopped beating.
Yusef and I left the house quickly, and he drove me to the medical center in the village. When we got there, I saw a lot of young people from the village. I felt heavy and couldn’t get out of the car. I told my brother that Mustafa had not passed away. Then I got out of the car and went into the clinic. I saw Mustafa lying on a bed in the room, dead. I was in shock. I tried to wake him up, but he didn’t respond. I felt like I was collapsing. I almost passed out. I couldn’t believe that Mustafa died too. I thought maybe I was having a nightmare, and I’d soon wake up and find out it wasn’t true. But I also knew that Mustafa had passed away and that I wouldn’t see him again. The doctors told me he had been martyred. Mustafa was buried on Saturday in the village cemetery.
In 2022, Mustafa was arrested for a month on suspicion of throwing stones. He’d been arrested twice since then but had been released with no further action. I still can’t process the fact that he’s been martyred. He was everything to me. He was the compensation for his siblings who died one after the other. The soldiers killed him on purpose and took him from me forever. I am overcome with grief, shattered. It’s hard for me to be in this world. The house is empty without Mustafa, and his sister Ruaa is so sad. But this is Allah’s will. Praise God always.
