Martyr Ahmad al-Faqih martyred on December 27, 2002 (Al Jazeera)

Hebron – Over the course of more than 7 and a half decades of struggle, the names of Palestinian families from different governorates have emerged in the struggle record because of the high prices they have provided on the road to liberation, including martyrs, prisoners and detainees of different generations.

In the Hebron Hills, in the southern West Bank, the al-Faqih family contributed martyrs and prisoners in different generations since the 1948 Nakba until today, in addition to persecution and house demolitions, thus forming a model for the Palestinian situation in general.

Going back to the past, it was only six months since Yusuf Ahmad al-Faqih was married, when he was martyred in the summer of 6, while he was working in the Jordanian army, which ruled the West Bank at the time, in the village of al-Burj, southwest of Hebron, east of the line of contact with the territories occupied in 1956.

On that day, six years after the Nakba, the occupation soldiers tried to enter the village from the western side, and he rushed to his rifle, but its bullets hit him by mistake and he was martyred, turning his story into a novel that his mother conveys to her children and grandchildren who did not live that stage.

The largest number of martyrs recorded during 2023, with the martyrdom and loss of about 29,500 Palestinian citizens (Al Jazeera)

Certificate inspiration

The story of the fighter Youssef turned into the talk of the councils in the family, and inspired its members and remained his soul flowing in them, according to his brother Ayed al-Faqih, speaking to Al Jazeera Net, they memorized by heart, to be born among them who walked on his path and spent a martyr, and others won prison chains of their hands and bodies.

On December 27, 2002, Ahmad 'Ayed al-Faqih, the son of our interlocutor, a resident of the southern West Bank city of Dura, set off for the settlement of 'Otni'el, a settlement south of Hebron, to carry out an attack that killed and wounded a number of settlers, joining Darb his uncle, who has long been a source of inspiration for him, and was moved by his story whenever he heard it from his relatives.

Ahmed's father says that he and all his family members were persecuted and threatened after Ahmed's death, so he spent 12 days investigating, while his son Youssef was detained for about 7 and a half years, in addition to demolishing his house.

Ayed al-Faqih, a retired employee who was not born at the time of his brother's martyrdom, adds that his martyr son used to hear from his grandmother the story of his uncle, the martyr Youssef, and was affected by it until he joined him as a martyr, noting that Ahmed's body was detained for 14 years, and then recovered after the action of human rights organizations.

Martyr Mohamed al-Faqih (left) was martyred on July 27, 2016, and his son Mohamed Ould after his martyrdom (Al Jazeera)

A third martyr on the path

About 62 years after the martyrdom of his uncle Yusuf, and about 14 years after the martyrdom of his cousin Ahmed, the young Muhammad Jabara al-Faqih went on their way, carrying out on the first of July 2016 an operation in which he killed an Israeli rabbi from the same settlement in which his cousin was martyred, and then he was persecuted until his assassination in the village of Surif, west of Hebron, and the house in which he was located was demolished on the 27th of the same month, and his body is still being held in the cemetery of numbers, according to his brother Hussein. Jurist.

Al-Faqih adds in his speech to Al Jazeera Net, that his family was subjected to prosecutions and arrest after the operation of his two brothers and during his pursuit, adding that he was arrested and summoned several times, as is the case for his mother and brothers, and adds that the circle of prosecutions and arrests expanded to include at least 25 members of relatives and in-laws of the martyr Mohammed and even his uncles, in addition to raiding homes and vandalizing their contents.

The same spokesman pointed out that his brother, the martyr Mohammed, had previously spent 5 years in detention, and was martyred, leaving his wife pregnant with his son, who was named after him "Mohammed", and stated that the occupation continues to arrest his brother Suhaib since 2016, and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Hussein al-Faqih pointed out that one of his aunts was married and living in Jordan, and when she received the news of her brother's martyrdom, she remained in mourning until her death years ago, "she avoided adornment, and wore the traditional dress that symbolizes mourning without bright colors."

Prisoner Suhaib al-Faqih detained since 2016 and sentenced to 16 years in prison (Al Jazeera)

Commemoration Day

Palestinians celebrate the "Palestinian Martyrs' Day" on January 7 of each year, in which they remember their martyrs, whose number according to Palestinian official bodies is approaching about 130,1948 martyrs, since the <> Nakba.

This day was adopted as a day for the Palestinian martyr in 1969, 4 years after the martyrdom of the first martyr in the armed Palestinian revolution, the martyr Ahmed Musa Salameh of the "Fatah" movement, which fell on the first of January 1965, while it was known as the operation "Eilaboun Tunnel", north of the occupied territories in 1948.

The past year is the deadliest for Palestinians since 1948, when the largest number of martyrs in a year, with the death and loss of about 29,500 Palestinian citizens as follows:

  • 21,822 martyrs in Gaza.
  • More than 7,<> are missing in Gaza.
  • 527 martyrs from the West Bank.

While the data indicate that about 11,540 Palestinians were killed during the period from the end of 2000 until the end of 2022, according to the Palestinian National Information Center, the number of Palestinian martyrs in the battles of the Nakba reached about 15,3500 Palestinian martyrs, while the number of Arab martyrs reached between 7000,<> and <>,<> thousand martyrs.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of Palestinian and Arab martyrs from the 1948 Nakba until May 2023 (the anniversary of the Nakba) reached about 100,<> martyrs.

Since October 7, the occupation army, with American support, has continued to wage a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which has led, in addition to the martyrs, to about 56,450 wounded, the displacement of about one million and 900,<> Gazans, and the destruction of homes and infrastructure.

Source : Al Jazeera