Amir al-Fakhuri, 23, from the Tel Rumeidah neighborhood in central Hebron, attacked by soldiers at the Bab a-Zawiya checkpoint on 5 July 2024
I live in Hassan Abu ‘Eishah’s building with my four brothers and sisters. Ever since 7 October, we’ve been suffering almost daily aggression by soldiers, mostly from ones stationed at the checkpoints in the area. They abuse us repeatedly, act hatefully, curse us and our mothers, and attack us for no reason. Sometimes, they stop us from reaching our homes. It all depends on their mood.
The inspection room was closed and we couldn’t get out. The two soldiers came into the inspection room, threw two stun grenades between our legs and started pushing us out of the room
On Friday morning, 5 July 2024, at around 8:00 A.M., I was on my way home from grocery shopping with a neighbor of mine, ‘Abdallah Abu ‘Eishah, 24. When we got to the Bab a-Zawiya checkpoint, it was closed. It was very hot, and after waiting about ten minutes outside for the soldiers to open the checkpoint for us, we called out to them. One of the soldiers started swearing at us from inside the checkpoint: “Wait, you son of a whore!” Then he opened the gate. We went into the passageway that leads to the electronic inspection room. We asked the soldier why he was swearing at us, and he answered in Hebrew: “Because.” He kept on swearing at us, and ‘Abdallah asked him why he was doing it. Then we saw two soldiers come out of the room behind the glass. We were sure they were coming to beat us up. The inspection room was closed and we couldn’t get out. The two soldiers came into the inspection room, threw two stun grenades between our legs and started pushing us out of the room, back to the turnstile we came in through, to push us out of the checkpoint and stop us from getting home. We refused to go out and insisted they let us through so we could get home.
The two soldiers hit us all over our bodies with the barrels of their guns, and then cocked the guns and pointed them at us for a few minutes. Then they left us lying on the ground inside the checkpoint compound. The turnstile was closed. They started walking back into the checkpoint, and ‘Abdallah started filming them so we’d have a record and could file a complaint. When they saw him filming, they came back and one of them tried to take his phone away, but ‘Abdallah threw it out of the checkpoint through the barbed wire fence. They started beating us again. One of them hit ‘Abdallah hard on the head, and he started bleeding. The other soldier hit me with the barrel of his gun on my arm and leg. Then they opened the turnstile so we’d go back out to where we came in. They went back inside the checkpoint and didn’t let us get home.
Some residents took us to the Alia Governmental Hospital in Hebron, where we had X-rays and tests done. We had injuries and bruises on our arms and bodies from the beating. We got treated and discharged.
* Testimony collected by B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari on 8 July 2024