On Thursday, 16 April 2020, after staying at home for more than 40 days, the Qatash family from al-Jalazun Refugee Camp wanted to get some fresh air, have a picnic on their plot, and gather wild herbs. They set out around 11:00 A.M for their farmland, which lies in the village of Jibya, northeast of the camp.
The group included married father of five ‘Issa Qatash (40) and his son Hamzah (9); ‘Issa’s brother Musa (39), his wife Hanan (32) and their three kids – Salah (8), Jana (6) and Ahmad (2); and ‘Issa and Musa’s mother, Fatmeh (72).
After the family finished eating lunch, around 1:00 P.M., ‘Issa and Musa went to pick some wild herbs. The rest of the family stayed at the picnic site. The two brothers walked about 200 meters away and then split up.
In his testimony to B’Tselem, Musa recalled that while he was looking for wild herbs, two settlers suddenly appeared in front of him, one of them holding a stick, with a cow in tow. They demanded his ID card. He gave them the card and they asked where he was from. They then snatched his mobile phone and knocked him to the ground while cursing and beating him. Musa heard one of the settlers tell the other that he was going to get a rope to tie him up, and saw him move away. He seized the opportunity, pushed the settler who had stayed by him, quickly gathered his belongings and fled. Since he has undergone two operations on his legs, he only managed to get about 100 meters away and found shelter among the tangled branches of an oak tree.
In a testimony he gave by phone to B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad, he recalled:
“I heard my brother ‘Issa calling me – ‘Musa! Musa!’ – and I was terrified. I felt my end was nearing, and I started to say goodbye to life. For a long while, I had no idea what was happening to me. I felt I was collapsing and may have blacked out. I wasn’t sure whether I was dreaming. I was surprised that I was still alive. I looked around and didn’t see the settlers.
I made my way out of the tree and ran to my family, who were sitting about 150 meters away. My throat was dry, I was dizzyand my heart was pounding fast. As soon as I got near, I shouted to them that the settlers had attacked us. I told them to call people in Jibya to look for ‘Issa. I was afraid he’d been kidnapped or killed.”
Musa was right: while he was being attacked, two other settlers appeared in front of ‘Issa, cursing and beating him with their fists . One of them spoke fluent Arabic. ‘Issa managed to escape and run about 100 meters, but then he tripped and the settlers pounced on him, punching and kicking him as he lay on the ground. Two other settlers, one of them armed with a rifle, arrived and joined the attack.
In a testimony he gave by phone to B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad, ‘Issa described the terrifying moments he endured during the abuse:
“I could barely protect my head and face from the blows. Someone hit me hard on the mouth, and I felt my front teeth break. Blood started trickling into my mouth down my face. I shouted and cried out: “For God’s sake, what did I do to you? Do you have no mercy? You’re killing me. Have mercy.” But none of them listened. .” But none of them listened. At some point, I collapsed. I had no strength left. Then they tied my hands behind my back with the rope. The armed settler pointed his gun at my head and cocked it, as if he was going to shoot me in the head. I started reciting the “shahada” over and over: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.” I thought my time had come to die. They kept on beating me and swearing at me and threatened to kill me. Then they pulled me up on my feet. I could barely walk, and it felt like my left leg was broken, but they forced me to walk. They led me, limping, through the wild oats, rocks, bushes and thorns. Every now and then I fell down, but they pulled me back up and forced me to keep walking. I was in a terrible state, bleeding from the mouth and hardly able to open my eyes, which were swelling up with every step I took. My throat was dry and I felt like I was dying of thirst. Psychologically, I was broken. It was a terrible situation, only God can imagine it. They kept slapping and kicking me and swearing at me the whole way. They spat on me, too”.
[Link to full testimony]
The settlers handed ‘Issa over to soldiers who were standing about 300 meters away. The soldiers gave him water to wash the blood off his head. After about half an hour, during which the soldiers questioned him about why he was there, they ordered him to leave and refused to drive him to his family, despite his terrible state. ‘Issa was forced to walk to the village of Jibya, crawling some of the time. On the way, he called his family and some village residents picked him up. While he was gone, his family tried to locate him through the Palestinian DCO, until they learned he was in the hands of the military.
The Qatash brothers were taken to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, where the doctors found a fracture in ‘Issa’s ankle and set his leg in a cast. They told him he’d have to go to the dental clinic to fix his broken front teeth. Musa was released a few hours later. ‘Issa was put in medical isolation in a government facility in al-Balu’, Ramallah, the next day, as a precaution in case he had been infected with the coronavirus when the settlers spat on him or from contact with the soldiers.
In his testimony, given from the isolation facility, he recounted:
“Now I feel like a prisoner, trapped in a small room between four walls, in a strange place, cut off from the outside world except for phone calls. I can barely move with the cast, and I’m still waiting to be taken to the dentist to fix the teeth the settlers broke. I have bruises and swelling around my eyes from the beating, and also bruises on my back and shoulder. Emotionally, I’m in a terrible state. I feel hopeless and stressed and I’m having nightmares”.
*Update: After testing negative for the coronavirus, ‘Issa Qatash was sent home to self-isolate.