On Thursday, March 27, 2008 at around 3:15 am, the Israeli military invaded the Birzeit homes of two young Palestinian men and proceeded to arrest both men.
One of the young men, 25 years old and father of a two week old baby girl, had been badly injured by live ammunition about one month ago during clashes, at a protest against the Gaza siege, between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers at Attara checkpoint, just outside Birzeit. The man was hit with a so-called “dumb-dumb” bullet which went into his thigh. He was hospitalized for over a week and is still in very bad condition, neither able to walk nor stand, a fact which did not stop the Israel army from arresting him.
The other young man, a 22 year old politically active student at Birzeit University, was also arrested from his home in Birzeit. About 15 soldiers came into his house with intent to arrest him. At the same time, the army also invaded the home of two young American Birzeit University students living in the same building as the arrested Palestinian. One of the Americans reported that the soldiers stayed calm as they searched the Americans’ entire home.
Both men are still in the custody of the Israelis.