Two Bedouin Israelis say IDF soldiers beat them while they were driving in West Bank

Rafat Abu Alkian, 31, and his nephew, Nures Abu Alkian, 24, at Soroka Hospital after they were beat by soldiers on 3 September 2024

Eden Solomon reports in Haaretz on 6 September 2024:

Two Israelis from a Bedouin town in the Negev said that IDF soldiers stopped their car, intimidated them, and physically assaulted them with their rifles while they were traveling on route 60 in the West Bank on Tuesday.

Rafat Abu Alkian, 31, and his nephew, Nures Abu Alkian, 24, told Haaretz that they were driving in a car with Israeli license plates to Jerusalem, when in the area of the village of Khirbat Karme, near Hebron, IDF soldiers ordered them to get out of their vehicle and handcuffed them.  The two said that while they were handcuffed, the soldiers beat them with their weapons. According to them, when they asked to go back south to receive medical treatment, one of the soldiers threatened to shoot them.

The IDF said that it was unaware of the incident and that the Military Police would investigate it, following Haaretz’s inquiry.

“We were driving toward them, saw that they were pointing their rifles at us, so we stopped next to them,” said Rafat. “I was speaking with my wife on the phone at the time. He [the soldier] took the phone from me and threw it from the car. Then they took me and Nures, the driver, from the car, with a pistol at our heads.” According to their testimony, Rafat and Nures told the soldiers that they were Israeli citizens, but one of them replied, “I don’t care about your ID, you’re an Arab,” and beat them.

“During the assault, they didn’t ask for ID and they didn’t try to identify us. They were only interested in humiliation and beating,” says Rafat.  Rafat said that one of the soldiers asked where they came from, and when they replied, he hit him in the head with his rifle and another soldier kicked him in the stomach.  “When we said that they were hurting us, they beat us again in the same place,” he added.

During the assault, the two men said they were cursed at and humiliated.  “They told me, ‘You asshole, you piece of shit, why are you passing through here?’ They also cursed at us in Arabic.”  Nures added, “Around three soldiers beat us, one with a rifle to my head, one asked questions, and one hit. There were around three more soldiers nearby an army jeep.”

The two men said that the soldiers released them after about ten minutes. “I told them that I want to return south, to Soroka Hospital, because I didn’t feel well,” said Rafat.

“But they told me, ‘Shut up and go straight. Don’t go back the way you came. If you U-turn, I’ll give you a bullet’.” Consequently, the two men said that they were forced to reach the hospital by a much longer route, via the Tarqumiya checkpoint.  Rafat’s nephew, Ra’ad, testified that he waited for them at the hospital. He said, “They arrived with dirty clothes. They were not in good shape, in shock and struggled to walk.”

When they were able to get away from the scene, Rafat and Nures called to report the incident. The police confirm that the call was received by the Jerusalem District’s emergency line at 11:55 A.M.

“A police representative told me to come a file a complaint, but because it was an army matter, she could not help me at the moment,” said Rafat. “I wanted for them to call me an ambulance, because there was almost no cell reception, but the operator told me to call one myself.”

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