I was asleep when my brother woke me up telling me there were Israeli soldiers around our home. It was around 4:00 a.m. I heard loud banging at our front door. My father went to answer but the soldiers broke it down and stormed into the house before he managed to get there. Five soldiers entered our house and about 30 others remained outside.

 

The soldiers ordered all of us to leave the house and checked our identity cards. When a soldier checked mine he tied my hands behind my back with one plastic tie. The tie caused me a lot of pain. He also blindfolded me and told me I was under arrest. He didn’t tell us why and didn’t present us with any documents. They also tied my father and my brother but didn’t arrest them.

 

I was led out of the house and across some agricultural land to the nearby Israeli settlement of Betar Illit. It was hard to walk because I couldn’t see where I was stepping and I tripped a number of times. We walked for about 30 minutes. When we arrived at the settlement they made me sit on the ground for another 30 minutes until a military jeep came. They put me in the back of the jeep and made me sit on a seat. When I tried to sit properly a soldier kicked me.

 

The jeep drove to an unknown destination. When I asked where we were the soldiers ignored me. I was taken to see a doctor who removed the hand tie and the blindfold and asked me some medical questions. After the examination I was re-tied and blindfolded and taken to the police station inside the settlement of Etzion. We arrived at the settlement of Etzion at 7:30 a.m. They made me sit in the hot sun without any food or water for about two hours. They later allowed me to use the bathroom.

 

At around 9:30 a.m. the interrogator came, kicked me and told me to get up because he was going to interrogate me. He told me it was up to me whether I will be treated well or not. If I cooperated with him he was going to treat me well, if not then it would be a different story. He removed the blindfold and asked me what I had done. He did not inform me of my right to silence and did not tell me I had the right to see a lawyer. I was in the room with him by myself. I saw a camera in the room but I didn’t see a tape recorder.

 

I told him I didn’t do anything. Then he made me a cup of coffee and told me to speak. I told him 'you ask and I will answer’. He told me I was younger than his own children and that he wanted to treat me nicely if I cooperated with him. He asked me if I had ever done anything wrong and I said no. When he realized he wasn’t getting anything from me he opened a drawer full of bullets. He made sure I could see what was in the drawer. I think he wanted to frighten me. The interrogation lasted for about 30 minutes. I wasn’t given any documents to sign. Another interrogator in police uniform then took me to another room.

 

The second interrogator took my name and showed me the map of our village on his computer screen. The map included a forested area which had been damaged by fire about two weeks earlier. He pointed at the burnt area and wanted to know where exactly I had come from, implying I was involved in starting the fire. He asked me to tell him exactly what I did and how I did it. I told him I didn’t go anywhere near the forest and didn’t do anything. I denied the accusation and told him I wanted to speak to my family. He allowed me to call my father. My father wanted to know if I had confessed to anything but before I was able to answer him the interrogator took the telephone away.

 

Two soldiers then walked into the room and pushed me into the corner. I was scared. The interrogator swore at me and called my sister and mother "whores". He threatened to bring them in and I understood that he meant to harm them. He then asked me the same questions again, this time in an angry tone of voice. A soldier was standing over my head, very close to me. Then the interrogator handed me the telephone and asked me to call a lawyer. He dialed the number. The lawyer told me not to be afraid and not to confess to anything. The interrogator then showed me a document written in Hebrew and asked me to sign it. I signed it after he showed me a translation on his computer screen.

 

I was then taken outside where they made me sit in the sun for about an hour. I wasn’t given any food. I was photographed and fingerprinted. They also inserted a stick with a small sponge into my mouth. I think they took a saliva sample. Then I was taken to a cell in Etzion where I was put with five other detainees who were adults. I spent one night in Etzion. The following day, at around noon, I was given a piece of bread and a tomato and was taken to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem.

 

On arrival at Ofer I was strip searched. They made me crouch and stand up a couple of times. I was then taken to Section 14 where I stayed with detainees older than 18. I spent one night there. The following day I was taken to the military court. My mother was there and a lawyer. The hearing was adjourned.

 

The following day I was told I was going to be interrogated by the Shin Bet in the settlement of Kiryat Arba. I was shackled and handcuffed and taken to Kiryat Arba. At Kiryat Arba the interrogator asked me the same questions as before. I gave him the same answers and continued to deny the accusation. He showed me a document written in Hebrew and asked me to sign it which I did after he verbally translated it for me. I was then taken back to Ofer prison. The trip took nearly four hours. At Ofer I was taken into Section 13 where I stayed with other prisoners my age.

 

The following day I was taken to the military court again. There was an argument in court between the judge and the prosecution. I later understood that the judge was upset with the prosecution because their files were not in order. The judge then decided to release me and ordered my family to pay NIS 3,000. My lawyer objected to the amount and the judge reduced the amount to NIS 1,500 shekels and then to NIS 1,000. I was released on 7 August 2014 after my family paid the amount. I was told I was released on bail. I arrived home just after midnight.