18/05/2009 A Palestinian taxi driver said he was brutally beaten by Israeli occupation soldiers at the entrance to the West Bank city of Qalqilya early Monday morning. He was transferred to hospital in moderate-to-serious condition.

Palestinians said Rabi'a Shubaki was in his cab in line at the checkpoint at the entrance to the occupied West Bank city, when Israeli soldiers in an occupation army jeep called him over and beat him.

“We were standing in line. The soldiers asked us, 'Why aren't you standing properly in line?' Rabi'a responded saying we were standing in line.”

"The soldiers asked us to go back to the end of the line, and when we reached a distance of four vehicles from the checkpoint, the soldiers called Rabi'a, asked him to get out with his identification card and go to them," said one of the taxi's passengers.

According to the passenger: "Rabi'a approached the jeep and suddenly we heard him shouting: 'Stop, stop'. He fell to the floor and kept screaming. We got out of the taxi and tried to help him, the soldiers threatened us to stay away."

An ambulance from Qalqilya's Nazal hospital arrived to treat Shubaki and transferred him for treatment in the city. After an initial examination, Shubaki was transferred to a special hospital in Nablus due to the head injuries he sustained.

Samih Hamad, the ambulance driver that evacuated Shubaki, said the Israeli soldier opened the ambulance door, noticed Shubaki, recognized him and smiled. According to the ambulance driver, the soldier then said, "Him – he deserves another beating. Hit him again, hard," before letting him go.

According to Hamad, before losing consciousness, Shubaki said he was punched in the head and when he collapsed on the floor he was kicked by the occupation soldiers. "He also said that in addition to the punches, he was beat with another device, but he couldn’t tell us whether it was a rifle, a stick or something else," Hamad said.

The Israeli occupation Spokesperson's Unit claimed in response: The District Coordination and Liaison Office received a complaint in the matter and it is being examined. If it proves to be true, it will be dealt with."

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