CPTnet
15 February 2006

AT-TUWANI: Shots fired inside At-Tuwani; Israeli army claims responsibility

At about 7:00 p.m. on Friday 10 February, a barrage of automatic gunfire
rattled At-Tuwani, followed moments later by a second volley. Members of
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) immediately called the Israeli police.

Witnesses saw about six figures in the dark on the eastern hillside in
At-Tuwani, not far from the Israeli settlement of Ma'on. "The first shots
were very near to my house. I went out with my brother to look," said one
Palestinian. "When we got near, they shouted bad words at us and began
shooting again, so we ran away."

CPTers approached the scene shortly after 7:00 p.m. and heard four or five
more rounds coming from the edge of the trees around the settlement outpost
of Havot Ma'on (Hill 833). "The men were shouting (in Arabic), 'Settlers!
Settlers!'" CPTer Matthew Chandler reported.

Palestinians in At-Tuwani have suffered frequent attacks by Israeli settlers
from Ma'on and the outpost on Hill 833. On the night of 8 February,
settlers uprooted olive trees and destroyed wheat and barley fields near
At-Tuwani.

At about 7:45 p.m. CPTers Art Gish and Sarah MacDonald encountered an army
jeep on Route 317, the Israeli bypass road near At-Tuwani. Occupants of the
jeep insisted that soldiers had fired warning shots while on foot patrol.
No settlers were involved, the men claimed.

The police arrived on the scene an hour after Chandler placed the first
call. The officers argued with the witnesses, telling them that only the
army fired the shots, while the witnesses insisted that settlers were there.
One of the officers went with Chandler and three witnesses to see some of
the bullet casings left on the ground. The officer picked up two shells and
put them in his pocket, but refused to search the rest of the area.

At 8:10 p.m. an army jeep arrived on the scene. CPTer Diana Zimmerman spoke
with one of the soldiers, who, like the soldier on 317 earlier, claimed full
responsibility for the shootings.

The following morning, Zimmerman, Chandler, and residents of At-Tuwani found
five more bullet shells at the scene of the incident. Zimmerman and
Chandler then spoke with the commander of the soldiers in the area. He
explained that the night before he ordered a group of his soldiers to do a
foot patrol around Hill 833. When the soldiers entered At-Tuwani, he said,
some people came close and the soldiers identified themselves as the army.
They fired warning shots into the air when the people did not move back. The
commander declined to give any details on how many soldiers were on the
patrol, how many shots they fired, when they had fired or from where.

The people of At-Tuwani are filing complaints against the army and trying to
convince the police to complete the investigation.