On Tuesday, 15 March 2022, at around 5:30 A.M., soldiers and Border Police officers entered Balata Refugee Camp, which lies near the city of Nablus. They arrested a camp resident and left the area at around 6:15 A.M. B'Tselem's investigation indicates that as they were leaving, they were followed on a scooter by two 16-year-old residents of Nablus, Nader Rayan and his friend S.’A. The two drove against traffic and stopped when they neared a school outside the camp after, according to S.’A., the engine stopped. After failing to restart it, the two teens fled to a side street that leads to the school. The military vehicles stopped and a Border Police officer who was sitting in one of them fired three shots at the fleeing teens. Nader Rayan was hit in the back and fell.
Footage from nearby security cameras shows five officers, including the shooter, quickly getting out of their vehicles about 30 seconds after the shooting began and running in the direction in which the teens fled. B'Tselem's investigation found that at that point, the officers shot the injured Rayan again, killing him. A few minutes later, the force left the scene. Palestinians arrived and took Rayan to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. A forensic examination of the body revealed that Rayan was shot at least eight times in the front, all over his body – in the head, chest, pelvis and limbs – and three more times from behind, in the buttocks and back.
THE ROAD WHERE THE MILITARY VEHICLES STOPPED AND FROM WHICH RAYAN WAS SHOT FROM BEHIND. AHEAD – THE SIDE STREET DOWN WHICH HE RAN AND WHERE HE WAS SHOT TO DEATH. PHOTO BY SALMA A-DEB’I, B’TSELEM, 16 MAR. 2022
That evening, footage of the shooting at Rayan and his friend filmed on the head camera of one of the officers was posted on social media. A shorter version of the footage was also posted that evening. In the longer version, posted by a Palestinian journalist, three shots are fired from one of the military vehicles. A Border Police officer then gets out of the vehicle and runs along on the side street where the teens ran, towards a black spot that is visible further down. At that point, the video cuts off and resumes with blurred footage of Rayan's body, without specifying the time that elapsed.
The Border Police initially claimed that Rayan got off the scooter he was riding and fired a revolver at the officers, who responded by firing back at him. A later version no longer alleged that Raayan opened fire at the officers, but only that he "endangered their lives, after bursting into their car and aiming a revolver at them." The police did not find the revolver.
This claim cannot justify the initial shooting of Rayan, and certainly cannot justify the "confirmation of killing" that followed. The killing of Rayan clearly demonstrates Israel's open-fire policy in the Occupied Territories, which allows security forces to use live ammunition – including massive fire, in this case – as a first recourse in dealing with threats, whether real or imagined. Implementing such a policy would not be possible without the indifference and disregard that Israeli authorities convey towards the lives and bodies of Palestinians.
A POSTER COMMEMORATING RAYAN AND A MEMORIAL AT THE SITE WHERE HE WAS KILLED. THE SCHOOL GATE IS SEEN FURTHER DOWN. PHOTO BY SALMA A-DEB’I, B’TSELEM, 16 MAR. 2022
In a testimony he gave B'Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb'i on 16 March 2022, S.’A. recounted what happened that morning:
On Tuesday, 15 March 2022, at 6:10 A.M., my friend Nader Rayan, who lived near me, came over to my house. In the mornings, we're used to going together to his brother Muhammad's cafe in the refugee camp. We open it up and make ourselves a hot drink. Nader came on his brother Muhammad's scooter and when he got to my place, we switched. I drove and Nader sat behind me. We headed towards the camp.
Before we reached the junction at the entrance to the camp, on the al-Quds Road, we saw military vehicles leaving the camp and driving south towards the Huwarah checkpoint. We decided to follow them. We passed a speed bump on the way and then something happened to the scooter. I don't know what it was, but the engine stopped working. I tried to restart it a few times, but I couldn't. I stopped by the roadside about 10 meters after the speed bump.
Nader said, "Quick, let's run away." He got off the scooter and ran to the street that leads to the nearby school. I ran after him and overtook him. While I was running, I heard three shots. I reached the end of the street and was running to hide among the trees, but then I slipped and fell. I heard Nader call out for help. He said he'd been hit. I looked back and saw him lying face down. He was reaching his hand out towards me. I wanted to help him, but six or seven soldiers had got out of the jeep and were running towards us, so I quickly ran away. While I was running, I heard at least five shots, maybe more. I didn't know who they were shooting at, me or Nader. I kept running for another 200 meters or so, until I felt I was safe and far away from the soldiers. I stayed there for about 10 minutes until I saw people further up the street and realized the soldiers had left the area.
I came back to see how Nader was doing. He was lying on his back, bleeding from several parts of his body. I couldn't believe my eyes. I was sure he was dead. I blacked out and woke up when I heard his brother Muhammad, and some other people who'd come there, crying. They took me home and I changed clothes. Then I went with my brother to the hospital and stayed there until Nader's funeral at the camp cemetery.
Murad Hmeidan, 25, lives near the al-Quds Road. On Tuesday morning, 6:10 A.M., he was driving south along the road to pick up his brother and head to the construction site where they both work. In a testimony he gave B'Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb'i on 15 March 2022, he described what happened:
MURAD HMEIDAN. PHOTO BY SALMA A-DEB’I, B’TSELEM, 16 MAR. 2022
I was driving my car along al-Quds Road. On the way, I saw several military jeeps leaving the camp. I also saw two young guys pass by me on a scooter. I immediately recognized them as S.’A. and Nader Rayan, who always rode a scooter. They were driving against traffic towards the exit from Nablus, in the same lane as me.
When the two guys were a few dozen meters away from me, I saw them cross over to the left side of the road and suddenly stop. One of them started running and the other ran after him, into the street that leads to the school. I saw one of the jeeps stop and heard three shots come from its direction. I waited where I was. I saw several soldiers get out of the same jeep. They went in the direction the two guys had run in. I heard several shots, about five or six. I couldn't see what was going on there because a building was blocking my field of vision.
After a few minutes, the soldiers left the scene. I went over and saw Nader Rayan lying on the ground, unconscious, about 100 meters from the road. I raised his head. The back of his skull was completely shattered. I yelled out loud and cried. I lifted his shirt and saw a large wound near his pelvis and several wounds on his chest. I couldn't believe what happened. The sight was chilling.
Muhammad, Nader's brother, arrived and so did his friend S., who had been with him on the scooter before. I stayed there until they took Nader away in a private car that passed by. I drove after them and stayed in the hospital until the funeral procession set out from there to the camp cemetery.
I got home at 1:00 P.M., exhausted. It was a horrible day, in which blood was shed with no justification.
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