Israel damages Palestinian car used to transport disabled girl

Israeli soldiers attacked a Palestinian driver yesterday and vandalised his car, which he uses to transport his disabled daughter.

According to Haaretz, Mohammed Sabarna attempted to talk to the soldiers and warn them about his daughter, who is disabled, however, they proceeded to strike him with their weapons and forced him back into his house, in the West Bank town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron.

The Israeli military spokesperson told Haaretz that the soldiers were in the area to arrest a wanted person and broke into Mohammed’s car after receiving intelligence indicating that he stored a weapon inside. The soldier also claimed the Palestinian father had refused access to the car. No weapon was found within it.

Meanwhile, Mohammed insisted no military member had approached him to discuss the contents of the car and no one from the family, including himself, was arrested. He added that the incident occurred at 4:30am, when the family gathered for suhoor – the meal eaten before the day of fasting begins – when they were alerted by the car alarm and found the Israeli soldiers destroying their car windows.

Attacks, assaults and acts of vandalism are frequently carried out on Palestinian towns and villages in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jerusalem both by illegal settlers and soldiers.

“They hit me with their rifles and told me to shut up and go inside,” Mohammed said. “The soldiers did not speak to me before smashing the car and didn’t enter my house or knock on the door.”

He noted that his 30-year-old daughter, Yasmin, is dependent on the car for her mobility. “We pick her up and sit her down,” he said. Mohammed visited the Etzion police station following the attacks but was instructed to return next week.

Israel has illegally occupied Hebron and the rest of the West Bank since 1967 and human rights abuses against Palestinians and breaches of international law are daily occurrences.

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