‘I thought I would die,' recalls young Palestinian used as human shield by Israel

Mujahid Abbadi still can't believe that he remained alive after being strapped to the hood of a military vehicle by Israeli forces.

“I expected to die,” the 24-year-old Palestinian, who is being treated at Ibn Sina Hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, told Anadolu on Tuesday.

“I was shot, beaten, and strapped to the hood of an Israeli military vehicle, I thought I would die,” he said.

A video shared on social media on Saturday showed Abbadi lying across the front of the Israeli jeep as it drove through a neighborhood of Jenin. The man appeared slumped on the hood of the vehicle as it drove past Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) ambulances, apparently using him as a human shield.

“This criminal occupation is doing anything forbidden,” Abbadi said. “What happened to me is the iceberg of what is happening in the Gaza Strip.”

- ‘Knives cutting through me'

Recounting the incident, the young Palestinian said Israeli forces had besieged a house in the Jabriyat neighborhood in Jenin.

“At that time, I was in my uncle's house. My cousin and I tried to return home, but soldiers fired at us,” he said.

"My cousin was injured but he managed to return home. I fell behind a vehicle parked in front of the house, was shot in the right shoulder and the right leg, and left unable to move,” Abbadi said.

"I bled for about two hours until Israeli soldiers approached. They hit me on my head. They intentionally caused harm, dragged me by my injured legs, and brutally beat my injured shoulder.

"A group of soldiers then threw me in the air, badly harming my injuries, and finally strapped me to the hood of the military vehicle.”

He recalled that the hood of the military vehicle was scalding hot and caused burns to his back and legs.

“I felt like knives were cutting through me,” the gunshot-wounded Abbadi said. "I was handed over to Palestinian paramedics four hours later.”

- Nightmare

Abbadi needs several months of medical attention to recover from his injuries.

"The injuries have turned my life upside down. I was like any normal person, building my life and future. Now everything is destroyed,” he said.

“The injuries will surely negatively impact my life and mobility."

The young Palestinian said he has been living a nightmare since the incident.

“When I doze off, I wake up in panic, not knowing why,” he said.

“Although I feel mentally well, reality isn't like that."

On Monday, the US State Department called the use of Abbadi as a human shield by Israeli forces "shocking."

Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the State Department has reviewed the "shocking" footage circulated on social media, adding that people "should never be used as human shields."

Miller emphasized the urgent need for the Israeli army to investigate the incident and hold those responsible accountable.

Tensions have been high across the occupied West Bank since Israel launched a deadly military offensive against the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 37,600 victims since Oct. 7.

At least 553 Palestinians have since been killed, including 133 children, and nearly 5,300 injured by Israeli army fire in the West Bank, according to the Health Ministry.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its military operation in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.