Soldiers shoot and kill 17-year-old working in field
The person killed:

Bashar Ahmad Ibrahim Samur, 17

  • 12 May 2021
  • 10:00
  • ‘Abasan al-Jadidah, Khan Yunis

Testimony of Sa’id Abu ‘Aasi, 16, Bashar’s friend:

On Wednesday, 12 May 2021, I left home in the morning with two friends, Luai Samur, 18, and Bashar Samur, 17. They’re brothers who live next to me. We rode on a donkey cart to the a-Sanati area, where Luai’s father leases a 17-dunam plot of land. The area is about 20 meters from the barbed wire fence that marks the border [with Israel], and has parsley, dill and wheat crops.

We got there early, around 8:00 A.M. We wanted to water the crops. Luai and I have been working there for a few years, and Bashar joined us when he didn’t have school. When we got there, Luai went to turn on the water pump by the pool at the entrance to the plot. Bashar and I headed in the direction of the border to open the valves in the pipes. A few moments later, Luai joined us and we started harvesting the wheat.

After about two hours, Luai and I went to close some of the valves and open others. Bashar stayed put, about 20 meters from the barbed wire fence. Luai and I were about 50 meters west of him.

 

Suddenly, we heard three or four shots from the military watchtower by the fence, right in front of us. We looked in Bashar’s direction but didn’t see him. We went to where he’d been before the shooting and looked for him among the stalks. We found him lying face down. He couldn’t move or talk. Luai and I picked him up and carried him to the Jakar Road, about 70 meters away, where we met Raed Samur, a farmer we know, who was working his land. We called out to him and he drove over in his car. 

Bashar Samur

We put Bashar in the car and drove to hospital in ‘Abasan. The paramedics gave him first aid, but the doctors said he was in critical condition. He was taken by ambulance to Naser Hospital. Luai went with him. I drove behind them with Raed Samur. When we got there, we learned Bashar had been killed. They put him in a freezer at the hospital. He was buried that day at noon prayers, at the Bani Suheila cemetery.

I was shocked by what happened. I didn’t know what to do. Bashar has been my friend since childhood, and I lost him in an instant. I still start crying when anyone asks me about him or about the incident.

  • Testimony given to Khaled al-‘Azayzeh on 3 June 2021
Sa'id Abu 'Aasi

Suddenly, we heard three or four shots from the military watchtower by the fence, right in front of us. We looked in Bashar’s direction but didn’t see him. We went to where he’d been before the shooting and looked for him among the stalks. We found him lying face down. He couldn’t move or talk.