Hamza Amjad Al-Ashqar حمزة أمجد الأشقر
17 years-old, from Askar Refugee Camp.
Design: Lahav Halevy
Hamza, 16 years old, almost 17, dropped out of school a year earlier, and started working for a date packing facility in the Jordan Valley. 90 Shekels for a working day from dawn till dusk. He loved the work. Hamza has six brothers and sisters. The father works for the Palestinian police.
Tuesday. 2:30 am. The IDF, Magav and the ISA (Shin Bet) raid the neighborhood of al Masakin al Sha'biyah in East Nablus. They arrested three Palestinians. Clashes erupted. Exchanges of fire, throwing stones. Six injured, one seriously thus far. There was no access to medical aid, and ambulances were attacked even. The forces began to withdraw.
3:20 am, eight young men gathered in the square, and threw stones at the military vehicles. Hamza threw an iron rod. Two shots were fired. Two bullets hit Hamza: one in the mouth and the other in the waist. Shoot to kill. The vehicles did not stop.
One of his friends tells: 'I looked back and saw him lying on the ground. I told him to get up and that this is not the time for jokes. Hamza got up, walked a few steps and then fell again. The headlight of the jeep from which the shots came, illuminated Hamza from above and then they drove away towards the Huwara checkpoint". (B'Tselem).
Hamza was evacuated in a private vehicle. There was no ambulance available. In the car, his friends cried: Don't die, don't die. He pointed a finger upwards (a Muslim gesture symbolizing there is none but Allah) snorted and died. At 3:45 am they arrived at the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The detainee who was in the jeep from which Hamza was shot, testified that the soldier who shot him called his mother, and happily told her: "I killed an Arab".
Information Sources: B'Tselem, DCI-P, Gideon Levy, Haaretz.
Poster design: Lahav Halevy.
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