Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumInjury, then insult, at the hands of the Israeli army
Last edited Sun Dec 7, 2014, 07:59 PM - Edit history (1)
The last of the guests left at 2 A.M., and Ahmed Hassouna was going downstairs to close the gates to the house. Before that, he had driven some of the guests home to the nearby Al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah.
Members of the family had gathered to celebrate the birthday of Ahmeds nephew. His sister, Nagham, was now following him down the stairs carrying a bag of garbage. She was asking Ahmed to open the wicket in the back of the house, so she could throw the refuse into the garbage bin on the street, before he locked up for the night.
Nagham is going down the stairs, Ahmed is waiting out on the street, next to the garbage bin. Its 2 A.M. on Wednesday, November 12, in the town of Beitunia, on the outskirts of Ramallah.
The burst of gunfire was sudden and short. Hassouna says now that he didnt notice the Israel Defense Forces soldiers hiding behind the bin on the street. He adds that he heard no warning, either.
Apparently, four rounds were fired at him from a distance of three to four meters. Three bullets struck Hassouna, two in his legs. The third slammed into his hip, penetrated his spine and wreaked havoc. Since that night, hes been hospitalized, with both legs paralyzed. He may never walk again.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/twilight-zone/.premium-1.628931
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)shaayecanaan
(6,068 posts)ladjf
(17,320 posts)Lithos
(26,404 posts)Will give you a few hours to edit the title. Please use the original headline when posting an OP. You can add your own commentary in the bottom separate from the quote...
King_David
(14,851 posts)Linked at because it's got a different title at the link....
shaayecanaan
(6,068 posts)His sister heard the shots from the stairs and was petrified; his parents and his brother rushed down, overwrought. At first they were prevented from approaching the wounded Ahmed. His relatives say he lay on the ground for about 40 minutes before an IDF paramedic arrived to treat his wounds. A Palestinian ambulance, summoned by the family, was initially not permitted to approach him, either. At some point, Hassouna remembers, he passed out.
His father, Azzam, tried to speak to the soldiers in Hebrew. By this time, the family says, there were a few dozen soldiers in the house. Hassounas mother, Sabah, says her husband heard the soldiers say they had the wrong address. They were looking for someone named Samar but there was no one by that name in their house.
Not long afterward, other soldiers arrived with a Palestinian who was bound and had been arrested elsewhere in town apparently, the Samar in question. Mistakes will happen.
Hassounas mother says that after shooting her son, the soldiers dismantled the security cameras that had previously been installed at the entrance to their house and took them with them when they left. She is convinced the IDF wants to hide the evidence of the mistaken shooting of her son.
At some point, the soldiers involved, apparently realizing their mistake, allowed the Palestinian ambulance still waiting in the street to take Hassouna to the Ramallah Government Hospital. No attempt was made to arrest him.