btselem/ 24 April 2024

I live with my wife and our four children, between the ages of 5 and 16. We live on the first floor of a three-story building where my parents and my brother, his wife and their son also live. I am an official in the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Youth and Sports.

On 10 August 2022, I was on my way to the Al-Quds Open University in Ramallah, where I was enrolled. When I arrived at the Container checkpoint north of Bethlehem, the soldiers checked my ID card, and then took me out of the car and detained me. They put me in a concrete room near the checkpoint. While I was in there, an Israeli intelligence officer called and informed me I had a six-month administrative detention order. They put zip ties on my hands and blindfolded me, and took me to Etzion. There, they strip-searched me, naked, and a medic asked about my general health before placing me in a detention cell with six other detainees.

The cell was small and had a toilet. It smelled strongly of mold. I was in it for seven days. Then I had a court hearing, after which I was informed that I was under administrative detention for six months.

Firas Hassan after his release.

After that, they transferred me to Ofer Prison with other detainees, and again we underwent a naked strip search. I felt it wasn’t being done for security purposes but to humiliate us, and that the strip search was immoral. They put me in a cell with six other prisoners. The cell had all the usual equipment and we were allowed to go out to a yard, which was covered with a metal net, for 12 hours a day. I was there for an entire month, and then they transferred me to wing 16, where I was held until 11 January 2023, before being moved to the Negev Prison (Ketziot).

Later on, my administrative detention was extended for another six months. I filed an appeal but the charges against me were classified, so it was just a show of legal process. When the detention period ended, they extended it again by another six months. Life in prison continued as usual until 7 October 2023. After that, it was like living inside a tsunami.

We cleaned out garbage bags and filled them with water. We drank from them and also used them to clean the toilets.

That day, I woke up for dawn prayers. I heard inmates in the cells telling each other to look at the TV. We started following the news. After three hours, we heard explosions in the area around the prison, and then all the guards fled, leaving us alone. We were afraid a missile would hit the prison while we were locked in. Later, the prison administration locked the cell doors and cut off the electricity in the wings and cells. From that day until the day I was released, we didn’t see the light of day.

They brought in IRF members, all of them masked. That even had mesh over their eyes. That day, they counted us for the first time inside the cell. The guards shouted at us to kneel facing the wall, with our heads bowed to the floor as if we were praying, and put our hands on our heads. The IRF people shouted at us and called us “motherfuckers,” “sons of bitches” and “ISIS.” They also made animal noises, like cat yowls.

After roll call, they left. We didn’t get any food the entire day. After 24 hours, they brought us one meal: a cooked sausage, a small tub of white cheese and a bit of bread for each inmate.

They also cut off the water supply to the rooms and only turned it on for one hour a day. We had one water bottle for all seven of us, which we filled up so we could drink when there was no water in the tap. The bottle wasn’t enough for all of us, so we also cleaned out garbage bags and filled them with water. We drank from them and also used them to clean the toilets. Because of the water shortage, we went to the toilet as little as possible, which gave some people stomach aches.

The whole night, the guards would play shouts and loud music over the loudspeakers. They also banged on the cell doors all night to stop us sleeping. They spat at us through the openings in the doors and swore at us, saying “you dogs, you sons of bitches.” We were in complete isolation and had no idea what was happening outside. None of us could talk to them. Every time, they threatened to bring in the IRF to beat us up. The guards also drew and wrote offensive things on the walls of our cell.

They stood by the door, hitting each inmate who came out of the cell with batons and kicking him. When it was my turn, one of them kicked me in the face

On the morning of 15 October 2023, after roll call, members of the District Unit and IRF arrived. They were masked and had firearms, batons and dogs that attacked us. They ordered us to back out out of the cell one by one, and walk the length of the corridor like that, hunched over. They stood by the door, hitting each inmate who came out of the cell with batons and kicking him. When it was my turn, one of them kicked me in the face while I was hunched over, and then a muzzled dog jumped me and attacked me with its front legs and head. Two members of the forces led me, one pushing my head down and the other kicking me the entire way.

They put me in a room with other inmates in it. There were about 20 of us in total, and we’d all been beaten up with kicking, punching and batons. Some were bleeding. They left us there for about seven hours, and the whole time we were groaning in pain. Then they took us back to our cells the same way we came. When we entered our cell, there was nothing left inside except metal beds, thin mattresses, and one thin blanket for each of us. They’d confiscated everything else, including our personal clothing and shoes. We were left with the clothes on ours backs. They also removed the glass from the windows and took away the electrical appliances. They also confiscated all the food we’d already bought in the canteen. Guards we’d had mutual respect with demanded we get down on our knees every time they came into the cell, and cursed and humiliated us.

The next day, 16 October 2023, IRF people raided the rooms with Hamas prisoners in them. We heard them screaming and crying from the beating. It was horrifying. I spent 13 years in prison in the past, and never experienced anything like that. We saw the guards leave the cell with a prisoner whose face was bleeding, and they said to him in Arabic, “We want you dead.” We didn't know where they were taking him.

We were counted three times a day. The guards cursed us, calling us “sons of whores”, “ISIS,” and “sons of bitches.” The prison administration also informed us that group prayers, saying supplications and the adhan (call to prayer) were now prohibited.

One time I was attacked on 22 October 2023. That day, there was supposed to be a court hearing about my administrative detention appeal. They took me out of the cell, tied my hands behind my back with iron cuffs and shackled my legs. Two people grabbed me and quickly led me away, hunched over with my head down and hands up.

They put me and seven other prisoners in a waiting room – an exposed net cage measuring 3X4 meters. In the cage, they forced us to kneel with our hands tied behind our backs for four hours. Guards who passed by swore at us: “motherfuckers,” “sons of bitches,” “dogs” and so on.

From there, they took us one by one to a room where we attended our hearings via Zoom. On the way there, IRF members punched me very hard in the chest. An Arabic-speaking guard was in the room, and he listened to the entire conversation between me, the judge and the lawyer. He threatened that if I complained to the judge, I would pay. The lawyer told me before the hearing that the judges already knew about everything that was going on in the prison, so there was no point talked about it. Still, in the hearing he asked me, “Have you been exposed to violence in prison?” I didn't dare answer, because I was afraid the guards would retaliate and beat me even more brutally.

I lost the feeling in my hands, and my head became very heavy. My legs could no longer support my body

They took me back to the waiting room and ordered me to kneel in the same position. I was there for another hour or so. I lost the feeling in my hands, and my head became very heavy. My legs could no longer support my body. I didn’t dare ask for water or to go to the bathroom, because I feared they would beat me.

When they led us back to the cell, they kicked and swore at us, calling us “dogs” and “motherfuckers.” When I got to the cell, my hands were swollen and painful from the metal handcuffs. As a result, I developed a skin infection around my wrist, which went blue because the cuffs were fastened so tight.

On 9 November 2023, at around 2:00 P.M., a force of 20 masked officers from the IRF and DU arrived with a dog. They opened the cell door and attacked us with batons. Two of them grabbed me and hit me in the back with batons. One of them grabbed my head while I was on the floor and hit me in the face with a baton. My face and right eye started bleeding. I told them in Hebrew, “I’m going to die,” and one of them said that he wanted me to die. Others told me to shut up.

After they beat us up for about 10 minutes, they tied our hands behind our backs with zip ties. They fastened them so tight that I felt them cutting into my hands. The beating continued, and members of the forces stepped on my chest and head. There were also two officers in the cell, and one of them ordered them to beat us. The members of the forces laughed among themselves. They took some clothes away from inmates. They dragged some of us on the floor and forced others to kiss one of the officer’s shoes.

I heard the officer tell the others in Hebrew: “We’re livestreaming for Ben Gvir.”

I saw them grab some inmates by the testicles, and the inmates screamed and cried. The officers also pressed their batons against the genitals of some inmates. The stream of insults didn’t stop: “motherfuckers,” “sons of bitches,” “dogs,” “ISIS.” Some of the forces filmed us with cell phones and cameras. I heard the officer tell the others in Hebrew: “We’re livestreaming for Ben Gvir.”

The attack lasted a long time, more than half an hour of nonstop beating. It looked like they wanted to cause as much damage as possible. When it was over, I felt I was going to pass out. Afterwards, we lay on the floor for hours. None of us could move, not even to go to the bathroom. We were all dizzy and lost balance. My right eye swelled up, and I was afraid I’d lose my sight. We were in a very bad state. One prisoner said in tears that they’d raped him with a stick.

After that incident, we lived constant fear. Also, we were shocked by the screams of inmates being beaten in other cells. We were afraid all the time, day and night, that the forces would attack us again.

The violence subsided a bit after 19 November 2023. At first, we didn’t know why they’d suddenly eased up on us. A week later, I hear from other inmates that someone named Thaer Abu ‘Asab had died because of the beating.

The food didn’t change. In the morning, we got a hotdog, a bit of white cheese, and bread, half a tomato and half a cucumber. Later, there was another meal made up of five-six spoonfuls of uncooked rice that was just soaked in warm water. We would save the food and eat it all in one go, to feel full at least once a day. When we complained of hunger, the guards said they were giving us just enough to keep us alive, and that if it was up to them, they wouldn’t even give us that.

There was no hot water and we showered every second day in cold water, when there was water available. After showering, we had to get back into the same dirty clothes. They didn’t give us soap or cleaning supplies. In the cell I was in, an inmate got scabies and the prison administration refused to give him treatment. It took 15 days for the guards to finally bring him medicine; by then, the disease was all over his body.

Every time they took me to the room where we attended our court hearings on Zoom, I endured the same path of torture, beating and humiliation. All the inmates in the prison went through that.

Every time they took me to the room where we attended our court hearings on Zoom, I endured the same path of torture, beating and humiliation. All the inmates in the prison went through that.

This nightmare lasted six months, during which we didn’t see sunlight and didn’t change clothes. Many of us lost a lot of weight because of the hunger.

On 1 April 2024, I had my hands tied and eyes covered, and was taken out of the cell. They led me, bent over, to a cell in which there were six other prisoners. They left us there for three hours in iron handcuffs, in a completely sealed cell with no windows or ventilation of any kind. Then they drove us to the Ohaley Kedar detention facility near Be’er Sheva. Members of the Nachshon unit accompanied us with dogs that tried to attack us, and they mocked and cursed us, calling us “ISIS,” and “dogs”. They also kicked me. At Ohaley Keidar, we were taken out of the vehicle and then attacked in a spot that was not visible to the security cameras. They punched me all over my body and then sat me on the ground. One of the guards stomped hard on my iron handcuffs with his shoes—I screamed in pain.

From there, they took us to Ramla Prison. We got there around 9:00 P.M. The people from the unit attacked and swore at us nonstop. We slept the night there without eating. We didn’t get any food that day.

The next morning, they transferred us to Ofer Prison, where masked guards punched and kicked us. One of the detainees passed out from the beating, exhaustion and hunger, and fell down. Another bled from his head after he was hit with a sharp object.

At Ofer, I went through a long Shin Bet interrogation. The interrogator was surprised by my appearance: my eyes were swollen and I was in a poor physical state, extremely exhausted. He told me they wouldn’t renew my administrative detention and offered to work with him as a Shin Bet informant. I refused, and then he threatened me and demanded I keep quiet and off social media.

From there, they took us straight back to Negev Prison, and on the way they beat and humiliated us again. I was in prison until 4 April 2024. That day, IRF members came, tied my hands behind my back and led me, bent over, to a cage along with seven other inmates, beating us again. My eye swelled up. They held us in the cage for six hours. I suffered from tingling, hunger and pain. I felt I was about to faint.

After that, Nachshon people took us to a bus. They beat us all, swore at us and humiliated us. The bus drove to the Meitar checkpoint, south of the town of a-Dhahiriyah in Hebron District, and we were let out there. No one was waiting for me because no one knew I was getting out.

From the checkpoint I went to Bethlehem, where I met my family in the a-Nashash area near the entrance to the city. I saw my kids and they cried, they were so shocked by my condition. I’d lost 22 kilos. Now I get anxious every time I hear the army is in the area. My kids sleep next to me because they’re afraid something will happen to me.

* Testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Basel al-Adrah on 24 April 2024