Khaled Bani ‘Odeh, 11, from Tamun, described the night Israeli undercover forces shot at his family's car, killing his parents and two brothers
I live in the town of Tammun with my family – my parents and my three brothers. My father worked in Israel for years and would come visit us once in a while.
He didn’t come in the last three months because of work, but he called us every day to make sure we were all okay. Towards the end of Ramadan, we called him, and he told us he would be coming in a day or two. On Friday evening, 13 March 2026, at around 8:00 P.M., after the iftar meal, he finally came home. We were very happy and excited. My brothers, my mother and I waited outside the house to see him coming, because we hadn’t seen him in months. We waited for him to do the holiday shopping together and spend the last week of the holiday together.
We decided to go to Nablus to buy things for the holiday. My mother, all my brothers and I got into the family car, and we drove off. We were very happy that my father was with us and that he would be staying with us for the coming days of the holiday.
When we saw him, it was a very happy moment. We hugged him, and then we all went inside. My grandparents were also waiting for him because they loved him very much, and he always looked after them and took care of everything they needed. We spent Saturday and Sunday together, and those were two happy days. My mother made the iftar meal and we ate together.
On Saturday night, 14 March 2026, at around 11:00 P.M., after my father, my brothers and I went to pray the Tarawih prayer at the village mosque, we decided to go to Nablus to buy things for the holiday. My mother, all my brothers and I got into the family car, and we drove off. We were very happy that my father was with us and that he would be staying with us for the coming days of the holiday.
When we reached Nablus, we went to City Mall, which is a new mall that opened there. We spent some time there, ate and drove around the city. We were going to buy clothes too, but at about 1:00 A.M. we decided to go home because it was late. I agreed with my father that we would go back the next day to buy me new clothes. I didn’t want to burden him, especially because he worked far away from us, inside Israel.
The drive together was fun. We were all talking and laughing together. At about 1:30 A.M., we entered Tammun from the south-western entrance and continued driving home. [...] I saw laser lights behind us and soldiers suddenly started shooting at us. [...] I didn’t hear any soldier call out to my father to stop before they started shooting.
We left Nablus and headed home to Tammun. The drive together was fun. We were all talking and laughing together. At about 1:30 A.M., we entered Tammun from the south-western entrance and continued driving home. We didn’t hear about anything unusual and didn’t know there were soldiers in the area.
I was sitting behind my father’s seat, my brother Mustafa was sitting behind my mother’s seat, my brother Muhammad was sitting in the middle, and my mother was holding my brother ‘Othman, who is blind and has special needs, in the front seat.
We kept driving through the center of town, and then, just after we turned off into a street, I saw laser lights behind us and soldiers suddenly started shooting at us. They probably came out of an alley nearby. Before that, we didn’t know there were soldiers there, and we didn’t see them. I didn’t hear any soldier call out to my father to stop before they started shooting. The car windows were open, and we didn’t hear anything except the shots.
They fired tens of bullets at us. I thought I was the only one still alive in the car. My mother was covered in blood. She screamed and then went quiet, and I realized she was dead. My father was dying inside the car, reciting the Shahadatein, and my brothers weren’t moving at all.
They fired tens of bullets at us. I thought I was the only one still alive in the car. My mother was covered in blood. She screamed and then went quiet, and I realized she was dead. My father was dying inside the car, reciting the Shahadatein [the declaration of faith usually recited before death], and my brothers weren’t moving at all. I thought I was the only one still alive, because when the shooting started I ducked behind my father.
The soldiers came over and opened the car door. They grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out. My brother Mustafa got out of the car on his own and put his hands on his head. [...] They threw me on the ground and hit me on my back. They threatened me that if they found anyone else in the car, they would kill me.
After a few seconds, the soldiers came over and opened the car door. They grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out. My brother Mustafa got out of the car on his own and put his hands on his head. The soldiers took me a few meters away and asked me who was in the car. I answered: my father, my mother and my brothers. Then one of them slapped me and told me I was lying. He asked who else was in the car. I told them it was just my family. They threw me on the ground and hit me on my back. They threatened me that if they found anyone else in the car, they would kill me. Then they said: “You’re Yamen. You’re lying.” At first, I didn’t even understand who Yamen was. Later, I understood they were looking for a boy called Yamen, who’s about 15.
They made Mustafa and me sit down by an iron gate and opened the car doors, so we could see the bodies of our whole family, our father, mother and brothers, covered in blood.
[The soldiers] opened the car doors, so we could see the bodies of our whole family, our father, mother and brothers, covered in blood. [...] The moments of the shooting were terrifying and painful. My father was shouting, my mother was shouting. I went into shock and was injured by fragments in different parts of my body.
After a few minutes, an ambulance drove up from the east. The soldiers showed me where to go, and I went to the ambulance, which took Mustafa and me to the Turkish Hospital in Tubas. I don’t know what happened to the car and to my family’s bodies after that.
The moments of the shooting were terrifying and painful. My father was shouting, my mother was shouting. I went into shock and was injured by fragments in different parts of my body. Later, at the hospital, they found that my brother Mustafa and I were lightly wounded.
We were discharged from the hospital at around 10:00 A.M., and we went to the funeral of our family, our father, mother and brothers. I already knew they were dead, because I saw everything inside the car. They weren’t moving at all.
They killed my father, my mother and my brothers. We didn’t do anything, and we didn’t even know there were soldiers in the area. They killed them in cold blood.
Now it’s just Mustafa and me. We’re orphans now and have no one except our grandparents. I keep asking myself: what did we do to threaten the soldiers, that they shot us like that? We were driving on the road, and there was nothing unusual. We were driving slowly, but they shot at us with no warning at all.
Now it’s just Mustafa and me. We’re orphans now and have no one except our grandparents.
I keep asking myself: what did we do to threaten the soldiers, that they shot us like that? We were driving on the road, and there was nothing unusual. We were driving slowly, but they shot at us with no warning at all.
We were so happy that my father was back. My mother was happy, and so were my brothers. We played, laughed and were glad that we’d be able to celebrate the holiday together – us, our grandparents and the whole family.
But our lives are ruined. Our whole family was killed, and now my little brother and I are all alone, and we don’t know how we’ll go on living without our parents.
Despite the pain, I thank God for everything.
- Testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh on 16 March 2026