Hebron, occupied West Bank – Eyad Banat, 35, was live on TikTok when dozens of Israeli soldiers broke into his home and violently beat him and other members of his family in the southern West Bank city of Hebron busy.
The video, which was widely shared on social media, showed soldiers marching on Banat, kicking him and shoving their guns into his body with the sound of his children shouting “baba” (dad) in the background. plan.
“They grabbed my father and pushed him to the ground. They kept beating him again and again, then handcuffed him and took him away,” Banat’s 10-year-old daughter Sandy told Tel Aviv Tribune from their home.
“I wasn’t screaming because I was afraid of the soldiers. I’m not afraid of soldiers. I was worried about my father. The soldier kept pushing the gun into my father’s neck. He took the crowbar and hit him on the head and hands with it,” she continued.
The operation took place very early Tuesday morning. Israeli forces arrested five members of the Banat family, including Eyad, as well as nine workers from Gaza who resided with the family after becoming stranded in the occupied West Bank.
The nine workers, as well as three members of the Banat family, remain in Israeli custody.
Eyad Banat, one of those released, is the cousin of the late political activist Nizar Banat, who was seriously beaten and killed by Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces on June 24, 2021.
Recalling the search of his home, Banat said he was attacked in the same way as his cousin.
“You all know what happened to martyr Nizar Banat. I saw Nizar’s face when they were hitting me. Even though it was occupation soldiers who did it, it’s still the same method (that the Palestinian Authority used),” said the father of six.
“What appeared in the video is nothing compared to what happened off camera,” he told Tel Aviv Tribune from his home.
“You shouldn’t be alive!” »
Banat had appeared live on TikTok around 1:30 a.m. (11:30 p.m. GMT), as he does every evening as part of an online campaign to raise financial aid for children in the besieged Gaza Strip.
For 41 days, the enclave has been subjected to incessant aerial and ground bombardment by Israeli military forces which has killed more than 11,500 people, mostly women and children. The military assault was launched on October 7 after fighters from Hamas, the Gaza-based armed resistance movement, staged an unprecedented attack in Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 200 prisoners.
Residents of the Gaza Strip now face a serious humanitarian crisis, characterized by severe shortages of water, fuel and electricity, as well as the spread of disease.
“A friend of mine and I are going live on TikTok, with a journalist friend of ours in Gaza,” Banat said. “We are providing assistance to children in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in the form of tents and blankets. It is truly unfortunate that 22 (Arab) countries are not able to bring a single bottle of water into Gaza. People are receiving packages of expired biscuits and white funeral sheets!
“When I was live, I realized the army was surrounding my house. I told the guys to stay live,” he said.
“The army broke into all our houses and blew down three front doors. They attacked all members of the Banat family – my cousins, my uncle and his sons, my brother. They attacked us with their hands, legs, weapons and crowbars,” Banat continued.
“They were hitting my uncle, who has heart problems. The soldier was telling him, ‘you shouldn’t be alive,'” he said.
The men from the Banat family were then handcuffed and taken for interrogation outside their home, during which the beatings continued. Two hours later, the soldiers left a number of them, including Banat, on different roads from their homes. They were then taken by doctors to the Princess Alia Government Hospital in Hebron for treatment.
The price that “honorable people must pay”
Since October 7, the Israeli army has increased raids against Palestinian neighborhoods, towns and villages in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. At least 2,570 people have been arrested, according to prisoners’ rights groups.
Commenting on being attacked in front of his children, Banat said they were “used to it” due to frequent raids by the Israeli army and Palestinian Authority security services.
“We are an occupied country. This is the price that honorable people have to pay,” he said, adding that he was “just happy to have been released.”
“Gaza is our dignity and our pride. He is fighting all Western countries – in the name of 22 Arab countries,” he continued.
“What happened to us is nothing compared to what is happening to the Gaza Strip. May God keep us strong so that we can stand with our people in Gaza – because they are our family, our children, our friends. We are the sons of one nation.
