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Home » Parents »

Testimony: Izdihar Z.

 

Name: Izdihar Z.
Age: 52
Date: 11 September 2018
Location: Al Mughayyir, West Bank
Event: Night raid

On 11 September 2018, Israeli soldiers entered a home in Al Mughayyir at 2:30 a.m. After checking identity cards the commander informed the family they made a mistake and no arrests were made.

My family woke up at around 2:30 a.m. when we heard Israeli soldiers outside our house. Shortly afterwards the soldiers knocked at the door and my husband answered and told them to give us some time to get dressed. My 17-year-old son was terrified; he thought they had come for him. 
 
About six soldiers entered our home and told us to gather in the living room. Then the soldiers checked all the rooms to make sure no one was there. They did not search the house. Then they asked my children for their names and ages and took their identity cards.
 
They kept us in the living room for about an hour, which for me felt like a long time. I was scared and tense and worried about them taking one of my children away. I could not think of whom they might have come for as my children are not involved in anything. I gathered all my courage and asked one of the soldiers what they wanted and why they were in my house in the middle of the night. He did not speak any Arabic and did not answer my question.
 
Then the commander compared my children’s identity cards to a list he had and then realised they had come to the wrong house. Then they took my husband outside and asked him about our neighbours and wanted him to say who lived in each and every house in the neighbourhood. 
 
Shortly afterwards the soldiers left and did not arrest any of my children. Still, it was a terrifying experience and I could not go back to sleep. The following day I had a headache and felt pain in my legs and back and had to take pain killers.
 
I do not recall how many times Israeli soldiers have raided my home, but it is many times. I recall once they blew off our front door with explosives. I woke up to the sound of shattered glass. I was terrified and thought it was settlers who had come to vandalise our home as they did in a nearby village where they burnt down a house and three members of one family were killed. 
 
One time I got up I saw 10 soldiers crawling on the floor inside our house and aiming their guns at us. My younger daughters were shivering from fear. When I asked one of the soldiers what they wanted he told me to shut up and not ask any questions because the commander was a crazy man. He told me they had orders from the commander to enter our house without knocking at the door. They did not arrest anyone and did not search the house and did not give us any explanation. It may have been a training exercise.
 
I do not feel safe or secure inside my own home.  My house is a battle field for soldiers who feel they can go in and out as they please any time of the day or night.