June 26, 2015
In Blog News
521. The homes of the Rushdi family were raided by an IDF unit shortly before 2.00 a.m. on 26 June 2014. According to eyewitness reports, the Israeli authorities cut off the electricity supply to the area before launching the raid. Some 40 soldiers conducted a search into two adjacent houses belonging to the extended family. An elderly female family member, described by witnesses as frail, allegedly fell to the ground when soldiers forced their way inside the home and reportedly ransacked the furniture and equipment. The commission was informed that the victim suffered a stroke and that her calls for help went unheeded by the IDF. The elderly woman was moved to a room with her daughter-in-law, while four children, under the age of five, were held in a separate room. Family members made repeated pleas to the IDF for an ambulance, as the elderly woman’s condition deteriorated, with blood emanating from her mouth; but their calls were allegedly ignored. Medical assistance finally came in the form of a doctor of the IDF over 90 minutes after the victim’s collapse, and eventually of an ambulance at around 4.00 a.m., by which time the victim had died.