9 April 2009
Yassir Shteieh, 29, was kidnapped from his home in Tell, Nablus region by the Israeli army in the middle of the night. Property in his home was destroyed by soldiers and no explanation for his arrest was given.
After 3 years in Israeli jail, Yassir Abdullah Teef Hussein Shteieh was recently married and had spent 14 months out of jail. At 2 am on the 8th of April, his wife got woken up by someone knocking at the door. As normally when the Israeli occupation forces is raiding a house they used the company of a downstairs neighbor to enter the apartment, and so also this night.
The flat was raided for two hours and the soldiers, constantly shouting, said they were searching for weapons. Some property was destroyed, such as the family photo album and the Koran where pages were torn out. The couples’ cellphones were also confiscated. Yasser was separated from his wife and brought outside dressed only in his nightwear. Meanwhile the neighbors were questioned about Yasser’s personal and family’s life.
Later on another person with his or her face covered arrived to the flat. Friends of Yasser says this might be a strategy from the occupation forces to create a split between Palestinians by strengthening the impression that there are collaborators amongst them.
When asked about violence from the soldiers towards any person, Yassir’s wife says she didn’t witness anything but the soldiers were constantly shouting so loudly that she could hear them interrogating Yasser outside the building when she was still at the 3rd floor.
Yassir, who works in the Palestinian authority and as a chauffeur, was taken without explanation to undisclosed destination and has not been heard from since.