Btselem / 4 April 2024

I was arrested on 7 July 2020. The day before, the army raided our house early in the morning while I wasn’t home, and an officer summoned me over the phone for interrogation. I went to the place they told me at 9:00 A.M. Soldiers were waiting for me there. They pointed their guns at me and tied my hands.

They took me to a settlement and from there, Nachshon forces took me to Ashkelon Prison for interrogation. I was held in an isolation cell for two months. Every day, they tied me to a chair and interrogated me for more than ten hours.

I really suffered from the cold, especially because the guards took all my clothes and left me only a tank top and shorts

They allowed me to smoke three cigarettes a day and gave me two very small meals a day. The only time I left my cell was for the interrogations. I had four court hearings, which I attended on Zoom, and each time my detention was extended by another 15 days. At the end of the period of interrogation, they transferred me to Ofer Prison, where I wasn’t held in isolation any more. After two years of detention, I was sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of 2,000 shekels [USD 535] on 19 April 2022. On 24 May 2022, I was transferred to Negev Prison (Ketziot) after about two years in Ofer Prison.

In Negev Prison, I mainly suffered from being in prison – the limited space and monotony. Every day looked the same: TV, some sport, buying food from the canteen and cooking.

That’s what my life in prison looked like until 7 October 2023. When the war broke out, everything changed. As soon as it started, special forces raided our cells and took away the TVs, hot plates and kettles. They locked us in and didn’t allow us out of the cells.

Until then, I was in a cell with five inmates. They transferred me and two others to a cell that already had five inmates, so the three of us had to sleep on the floor. I really suffered from the cold, especially because the guards took all my clothes and left me only a tank top and shorts. I had four large suitcases of clothes, but they confiscated everything and I had nothing left to change into.

The guards started routinely humiliating us during roll call. They ordered us to kneel facing the wall, with our hands on our heads. We got only two small meals and the quality of the food was bad. The first was at 12:00 P.M. and consisted of a plate and a half of rice for everyone in the cell, along with a plate of lentil or bean soup and bread. The second meal was handed out at 6:00 P.M. and was almost the same.

they hit Thaer the hardest. He tried to protect his head with his hand, but pretty soon he had to let go because of the blows [...] until he fell down on the floor

Later, they moved me to another cell where we were also eight inmates, including Thaer Abu ‘Asab. In that cell, too, I slept on a mattress on the floor. The older inmates, such as Abu ‘Asab, slept on the beds. We were together in the cell for about ten days. It had three windows, and the prison administration took the glass panes out of all of them to make the cold worse, in the day and at night.

On 18 November 2023, the guards came for roll call along with special forces who were masked and holding batons with bits of iron sticking out of them. The guards counted us. The method was that the guard called out an inmate’s first name and he replied with his last name, while we squatted.

That day, when roll call was over, one of the guards called Thaer’s name again and Thaer answered, “Abu ‘Asab.” Then the guard said again, “Thaer,” and Thaer again said, “Abu ‘Asab.” Then the special forces came in with the batons and guns and started hitting us. Each one grabbed one inmate and beat him. They hit us in every part of our body. We didn’t move, we just screamed and screamed while they hit us non-stop. My head started bleeding and I saw that the inmates next to me were also bleeding from the head. That lasted about seven minutes, and then they moved away to the door of the cell.

Then about eight of them came back in and hit all of us, but they hit Thaer the hardest. He tried to protect his head with his hand, but pretty soon he had to let go because of the blows. They kept on hitting him on the head and the rest of his body until he fell down on the floor. After that, they left and closed the cell door.

We called Thaer’s name over and over, but he didn’t respond. There was blood trickling from his head and his skin went dark. I think he had internal bleeding. We called out to the guard and shouted for an hour, but he didn’t respond. Eventually, a guard came who also served as a medic. He asked me to lift up Thaer’s shirt. When I lifted it, I saw his stomach was swollen and looked dark. The guard-medic called an officer. A lot of officers arrived and forced the remaining seven of us to squeeze into the corner with the toilet — a space of one square meter. After they crammed us in there, they took Thaer and left. Five minutes later, a guard came, opened the toilet door and told us that Thaer was dead.

I didn’t know what time it was or what day was. I had no one to talk to. I almost went crazy in there

The next day, the Shin Bet came and took us one by one for interrogation. My interrogation lasted about fifteen minutes. In it, they claimed we’d caused trouble and killed Thaer, which was why we were all injured. They said it was us who attacked each other, not the guards. The interrogator asked me how we killed Thaer. I told him what happened—that the guards beat us and killed him, and I explained how it happened.

After we all went back to the cell, the prison commander, who was known as “Abu Yusef”, came and opened the door. He laughed and said we’d killed Thaer and wanted to frame the prison for it. I started laughing at what he said, and then he asked, “Why are you laughing?” I said, “No reason.” He started swearing at me, and I swore back. At 8:00 P.M. the guards counted us, and after roll call the special forces came in again, beat us again in the same way, and left.

The next day, two guards came and took me to a cell the size of 1.5 square meters with no toilet. I was in that cell alone for more than three months. They let me go to the toilet only once a day, at 7:30 A.M., and would hit me on the way there and back. They gave me an empty bottle to pee in during the day. The light was on 24/7 and I lost track of time. I didn’t know what time it was or what day was. I had no one to talk to. I almost went crazy in there. It was also very cold. They gave me a very thin blue mattress covered in plastic, and a blanket that didn't keep me warm at all. That whole time, they didn’t give me cigarettes. I didn’t smoke once, and didn’t shower even once. The drinking water was dirty and tasted disgusting, but I had to drink it. As for food, they brought me two meals a day, which were the same as I got in the cell with the other detainees.

On 6 February 2024, a guard came and told me that I was being transferred. They took me along with 12 other detainees to the Meitar crossing, where they released me.

On the fifth day of Ramadan, someone called and introduced himself as “Captain ‘Eid”. He ordered me to go to Etzion the next day and threatened: “Next time, a new moon (a term for being killed/martyred) will light up the sky at Etzion. Don’t make trouble.”

* Testimony given to B'Tselem field researcher Basel al-Adrah on 4 April 2024