Btselem /18 January 2024

On Thursday, 18 January 2024, at 4:30 A.M., I woke up when the Israeli army blew up our front door and about five soldiers came into my bedroom. They grabbed me by the arms and led me to the yard, where they tied my hands very tightly behind my back with zip ties. There were about 20 soldiers there, on foot.  

Outside, one of the soldiers asked if I had a weapon and where I was hiding it. I told him, “I have nothing.” They then took me into the living room, and one soldier handed me his phone and ordered me to speak with someone who identified himself as “Captain Nir” from the Shin Bet (ISA). He said, “Make it easy for the army to complete the mission and give them what you have.” I told them, “I don’t have anything. Here’s the house, search it.”

Because of the beating, I couldn’t speak normally and had to whisper in the ears of the other detainees. I got out of bed only to go to the bathroom, and needed another detainee to help me get there.

The officer hung up the call and the soldiers began breaking the glass doors of the cabinets and turning over the tables and sofas. The violent search lasted about an hour, and they broke some of the furniture. They made me stand in a corner facing the wall. Then they put me on the phone again with the officer, who said, “Now you’re under arrest.” They took away my phone, 5,000 shekels (~USD 1,340) in cash, and checks worth 50,000 shekels (~USD $13,425) that they found in the house. Then they led me outside, blindfolded me, and put me in a military vehicle.

The vehicle drove to a military checkpoint. We got there at approximately 6:00 A.M. They transferred me to a bus – I could see a little from under the blindfold. My hands hurt a lot from being tied so tightly behind my back, and I felt they were starting to bleed. I asked to go to the bathroom but they said it was forbidden. Then I asked for water, and they said there wasn’t any.  

I stayed like that until it got dark. They then took me off the bus and put me in a military vehicle that drove to Etzion (detention facility). There, they made me sit on my knees in the yard. About four soldiers arrived. One kicked me in the back, and another hit me in the chest. I screamed from the pain. They kept on beating me and swearing at me, calling me “son of a bitch” in Hebrew and Arabic. One soldier asked, “Who is this?” and another answered, “a Hamas terrorist.” Then a third soldier said, “No, he’s a Fatah mega-terrorist.” They kept beating me. One of them kicked me in the chest so hard that I couldn’t breathe. I think the blow broke one of my ribs. For about 15 minutes, the soldiers beat and humiliated me, and swore at me.

Then they took me to a detention cell. They had to drag me there because I couldn’t walk, breathe or speak.

I spent a week in that cell. Because of the beating, I couldn’t speak normally and had to whisper in the ears of the other detainees. I got out of bed only to go to the bathroom, and needed another detainee to help me get there. I didn’t leave the cell or smoke. That whole week at Etzion, they refused to let me see a doctor or give me any medical treatment.  

On the eighth day, I was transferred to Ofer Prison. There, they interrogated me and asked if I had any weapons and whether I belonged to any organization. The interrogation was very brief. Then they put me in a cell on Wing 26. I still had difficulty speaking and breathing, but I could move a little better and was in less pain. 

There were eight beds and 13 detainees in the cell. Five of us slept on the floor, not on proper mattresses but on pieces of thin foam. The room was very cold and there was no heating, TV or radio.  

After three days at Ofer, they brought me before a court. They told me I’d been issued a six-month administrative detention order.

At the prison, they allowed us to take a break in the yard only once every three days, and sometimes just once a week – to shower and go straight back to the room. We weren’t allowed to stay in the yard. Once a week, they would bring us one container of shampoo for all the detainees in the cell. That was supposed to be enough to wash our body and hair, clean the shower in the cell and wash our dishes. Obviously it wasn’t enough, and most of the time we showered without any soap. 

About once every two weeks, they gave us a disposable plastic plate and spoon, which we had to keep for every meal until we were given new ones. If you lost your cutlery, you didn’t get a replacement and had to wait until they gave everyone new cutlery. 

We had to wait in line to shower before prayers and to use the toilet. The smell in the cell was terrible. When we entered the prison, they took our clothes and we were left only with the uniforms they gave us, so there was no way to change our clothes or wash them.  

As for food, they brought 13 detainees enough for just two people. For example, every four detainees shared one tub of sour cream. Each one got two tablespoons of rice. You could say they gave us just enough food to keep us alive.

When the guards came to count us, they would deliberately humiliate us. They ordered us to kneel and face the wall. We were also completely isolated. We didn’t know what was going on outside, and our families didn’t know what was happening to us because there were no means of communication.  

In my cell, there was a prisoner named Muhammad Ahmad a-Sabbar, born with an intestinal defect. [...] We kept asking the guards to get him a doctor [...] but they refused. In the end, he couldn’t even go to the toilet. They transferred him to another cell, and a week later we learned he’d died.

In my cell, there was a prisoner from a-Dhahiriyah named Muhammad Ahmad a-Sabbar, who was born with an intestinal defect. His intestines were swollen and he needed medication to soften his stools, and fluids to help him digest food and get rid of waste. During the time we were in the cell together he became very badly bloated, because from the beginning of the war they gave us only carbohydrates to eat. We kept asking the guards to get him a doctor, take him to an infirmary or bring him medicine, but they refused. In the end, he reached a point where he couldn’t even go to the toilet. They transferred him to another cell, and a week later we learned he’d died.

On 19 February 2024, the thirty-sixth day of my detention, two guards came to the cell and took me out. I asked them, “Where are you taking me?” and they said to Ashkelon Prison. They took away my IPS uniform and gave me a gray tracksuit. They had me sign some documents and then put me in a vehicle that had 32 prisoners in it. The others said they thought we were being released and not transferred to another prison.

The vehicle dropped us off outside the gate of Ofer Prison. One of the officers asked who among us spoke Hebrew, and one of the prisoners said, “I do.” They gave him a box containing envelopes with each prisoner’s belongings. In the envelope I got were my phone and ID card. The money and checks they took from my home weren’t there. I was released after 36 days, even though I was issued a six-month detention order.  

Three days after my release, around 12:00 P.M., someone who identified himself as “Captain Yassin” from the Shin Bet called me. He ordered me to come to Etzion the next day. That night, at 2:30 A.M., soldiers came to my house again and search it for two hours. They asked me again about weapons. They ransacked the house and broke things. They also confiscated 1,600 shekels (~USD 430), an unregistered vehicle I had, two phones and the DVR from the house’s security cameras. The officer said he was from the Counter-Terrorism Financing Unit and gave me a receipt for the confiscated items. Then they left.  

The next day I went to Etzion, where they interrogated me. The officer asked me the same questions: If I had any weapons and belonged to any organization. I asked him about the money they took from me and told him it belonged to my wife, who works at the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Interior. He said my wife was my accomplice and had to share the responsibility. He said they would continue to come to my house and confiscate whatever they found.

* Testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Basel al-Adrah on 31 March 2024