Voices From the Occupation

Name: Hatem S.
Date of Incident: 23 December 2010
Age: 17
Location: The Gaza Strip, Occupied Palestinian Territory
Nature of Incident: Shot whilst purchasing strawberries to sell at market

On 23 December 2010, a 17-year-old boy is shot in the head whilst purchasing strawberries to sell at market in
the Gaza Strip, about 800 metres from the border fence with Israel.

Seventeen-year-old Hatem lives at home with his parents and four

siblings, in the Jabalia refugee camp, north Gaza. Hatem dropped out of
school earlier this year so that he could help support his family. ‘We’re
living in harsh financial conditions,’ says Hatem. ‘There are no job
opportunities in the Gaza Strip because of the blockade. I couldn’t find
a vocational centre that would teach me a profession. I tried so hard
and so many times to get a job, but I couldn’t, so I decided to sell
vegetables in the market.’

Two or three times a week, Hatem and his cousin Moamen (16), take
their donkey cart to farmland north of Beit Lahiya, and buy potatos,
tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, strawberries, oranges or anything the
farmers are selling. The boys then take the produce and sell it in the vegetable market in the refugee camp where they
live.

At around 7:00am, on Thursday, 23 December 2010, the two boys took their donkey cart and headed to the farms
north of Beit Lahiya as usual. ‘We narrowed our search down to the strawberry farms,’ says Hatem, ‘because they are
in season and fetch a high price.’ The boys arrived at a farm situated about 800 metres from the border fence with
Israel, situated on a flat plane and easily visible. It was around 8:00am. ‘My cousin got down from the cart and entered
the farm, whilst I looked for a place to tie the donkey,’ recalls Hatem. ‘I was about to follow my cousin, who was
negotiating with the farmer, when I heard gunshots coming from the border. At first, I thought Israeli soldiers were
firing at the gravel collectors working about 300 metres from the border, about 500 metres away from me. I untied the
donkey and shouted at my cousin to come so we could leave that dangerous place. The gunshots confused me, and I
got on the cart and started heading towards a strawberry greenhouse. I barely drove the cart 10 metres when I heard
more gunshots. I felt something hitting me in the back of my head on the left side. I felt dizzy and as if the ground was
spinning around me, so I laid back on the cart whilst still holding the reins. Then, I placed my hand on the back of my
head and felt something sticky and warm running through my hair. I looked at my hand and found it covered in blood
and realised I had been shot.’ At that point, Hatem’s cousin rushed over and helped him into the farmer’s car who
drove the boys to Kamal Odwan Hospital. The doctors told Hatem that his head had been hit by some shrapnel from a
bullet which was now embedded in his skull. The doctors said it was safer to leave the shrapnel where it was, rather
than try to remove it.

When visited by a DCI-Palestine fieldworker, Hatem was in a stable condition, but said he had a headache and felt
nausious. Hatem’s case is the 22nd shooting incident documented by DCI-Palestine since March 2010. In spite of the
unilateral declaration of a 300 metre exclusion zone next to the border by the Israeli army, in 15 out of the 22 cases
(68 percent) documented by DCI-Palestine, the children report being shot whilst working 300 metres or more from the
fence. Under international law, the targeting of civilians is absolutely prohibited, regardless of circumstances. If you
would like to take action, please see our Urgent Appeal.

29 December 2010