Imreihah, Jenin District: Settlers attack Palestinian car from moving vehicle, chase passengers as they flee on foot, fire at them and smash their car windows
1 June 2022
On Wednesday, 1 June 2022, at around 9:30 P.M., military forces entered the town of Ya’bad in Jenin District. Ramzi Salit (22), who runs a restaurant at the eastern entrance to the town, decided to shut it down and leave the area, fearing clashes. He got into his car along with his brother Muhammad (15) and another restaurant employee, and they drove away via the Dotan checkpoint. As they were driving along Route 585, settlers threw a hammer in their direction from a moving car, hitting Salit’s car. He pulled over, and the three got out and ran away on foot. The settlers gave chase, fired at them, and then smashed Salit’s car windows with stones. Military and police forces arrived at the spot only after the settlers left.
Ramzi Salit described the attack in a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi:
The military announced it was going to demolish the home of the martyr Diaa’ ‘Amarneh. When I saw military jeeps parked by the restaurant, I decided to shut it down and go home because I wanted to avoid the clashes in the area.
I took my brother Muhammad (15), who helps me at the restaurant, and another employee, Mujahed, and we started driving towards Baqah a-Sharqiyah, which is about a kilometer away. Once we passed the Dotan checkpoint, I saw an Israeli car in front of me turn off from a dirt road onto the main road. I overtook it, because it was going slowly. Suddenly, the car started driving faster and tailgating us, so I sped up too. We got to a high traffic bump, so I had to slow down. Then, when we were close to the eastern part of Imreihah, the car caught up to us and I saw three settlers sitting inside it.
The settler in the passenger seat threw a large hammer at us, which hit the car. Then they overtook us. I stopped the car a few seconds later to assess the damage, but then I saw the settlers turning around and driving towards us. I drove a little farther, until we went through the eastern entrance to Imreihah. It was really frightening. I was terrified.
I pulled over in one of the alleyways, and we all got out of the car and ran towards the nearest olive groves. The settlers fired several bullets at us. Luckily, they didn’t hit any of us and didn’t manage to catch us, but I did hear them smashing the windows of my car, which was left behind.
A few minutes later, I took Muhammad’s phone and tried calling my phone, which I’d left in the car. A resident of Imreihah who was near the car picked up and told me there were soldiers there and that I should come. When we got there, we saw they’d smashed the windshield and right window with stones.
There were lots of soldiers there and then police officers came, too. They found eight bullet casings from an M16 rifle near the car and took them. The officers took my statement and asked me to file a complaint at the police station in the settlement of Ariel. We didn’t end up going because my father, who arrived a little while later, said it was dangerous to go to Ariel at night and that either way, the settlers wouldn’t get punished and no justice would be done. We got back home at around 1:30 A.M.
- Attacks on car passengers
- Damage to property (nonagricultural)
- Physical assault