I was staying at my grandmother’s house taking care of her when, at around 2:30 a.m., she woke me up and told me somebody was banging at the front door. She went to see who it was but before she got there Israeli soldiers had broken the door and stormed into the house. 

 

About 30 soldiers, most of whom were masked, entered my grandmother's home. Some of them came into my bedroom and showed me a photograph of me which I had posted on my Facebook page showing me standing doing nothing. One of the soldiers looked at me and at the photo and then grabbed my hands and tied them behind my back with three plastic ties: one on each wrist and another connecting them. The ties were tight and painful and they left red marks on my wrists. 

 

The other soldiers searched my grandmother’s home causing a big mess. They told her they were looking for weapons but they did not find anything. Then young men from the camp started shooting towards the soldiers who were outside the house. The soldiers inside the house were nervous and wanted to leave immediately. One of them asked me for my telephone. When I said I did not have one he slapped me hard on my face and punched me on the head. Then he grabbed me by the neck and pressed hard as if he was going to choke me. 

 

Then the soldier took me to the living room in my pajamas and did not allow me to put my clothes on. When the soldier saw I was bare footed he forced me to put my grandmother’s slippers on. They were too small and I could not walk. They did not give me or my grandmother any documents. I wanted to say goodbye to my grandmother but they did not allow me. My grandmother told me to take care of myself. 

 

As the soldiers took me outside the shooting intensified. One of the soldiers took me back inside to protect from being caught in the crossfire as the soldiers shot back at the young men. Then I was taken to the back of a military jeep. The soldiers made me sit on the metal floor and one of them blindfolded me. The gunfire continued and I was terrified. The soldiers swore at me each to a bullet hit the jeep. One of the soldiers called me "a son of a whore" and punched me hard in my stomach.

 

I was taken to a nearby checkpoint where the military commander asked me some questions. He did not inform me of my rights. He removed the blindfold and asked me whether I recognised him. Then he asked me for my father’s phone number and called him but my father did not answer. 

 

Then I was taken to Huwwara military base. I was left on the ground outside the base for about two hours. The soldiers made me kneel down while tied and blindfolded. A doctor examined me and asked me if I had any illnesses. He asked me whether I had been beaten up and I told him I had. He circled the correct answer on a questionnaire. 

 

After about two hours I was taken to the settlement of Shave Shomron. I was taken to a shipping container where I was left from around 5:00 a.m. until around 6:00 p.m. I was not given any food or drink but I was allowed to use a toilet. I could not sleep. 

 

At around 6:00 a.m. I was taken to Megiddo prison, inside Israel, where I was searched in my boxer shorts before taken into the minors’ section. I ate and showered and I slept. In the morning I had a military court hearing. My uncle attended and my detention was extended. After the court I was taken for further interrogation.

 

I was handcuffed and shackled when I was taken into the interrogation room. The interrogator was wearing a shirt and jeans. He had a camera and a voice recorder and a computer on his desk. He allowed me to call a lawyer. The lawyer told me not to confess to anything I had not done. The telephone was on speaker phone and the interrogator was listening. I barely spoke for a minute before the line was cut off.

 

Then the interrogator told me I had the right to remain silent if I wanted to. Then he told me if I chose to remain silent it would be counted against me in court. I understood this to mean it was not in my interest to remain silent and that was why I decided not to remain silent.

 

Then the interrogator accused of weapons possession, of preparing and throwing pipe bombs, and of contacting somebody from Gaza. I denied all the accusations. He repeated the same accusations over and over again and I continued to deny them. He threatened if I caused him troubles during the interrogation I would spend more and more time in prison. He also threatened to lock me up in solitary confinement of I did not cooperate with him. He raised his voice at me and thumped the table. He questioned me for about 40 minutes.

 

After about 40 minutes the interrogator asked me to sign a document in Arabic. He asked me to read it and if there was anything I did not agree to I should not sign it. I read it and decided not to sign it because it was not accurate. After the interrogation I was taken back to prison. About a week later I was taken for another interrogation. 

 

It was the same interrogator. This time I was not allowed me to speak to a lawyer. He informed me of my right to silence and then accused me of the same accusations. He questioned me for about 30 minutes and I denied all the accusations. Again, he asked me to sign a document in Arabic and I refused to sign it. 

 

In all I had about 20 military court hearings. At the last hearing, which was about four months before I was released, I was sentenced in a plea bargain to seven months in prison and fined NIS 2,000. I was also given a suspended sentence of one year suspended for three years. I accepted the plea bargain because the prosecutor was asking for 10 months in prison. 

 

I spent my prison sentence at Megiddo where I worked in the kitchen and I exercised. I also attended classes in Arabic, Hebrew and mathematics. My family visited me five times and I was allowed to call home from a telephone provide by the prison authorities once every two weeks. The calls were monitored and I did not feel comfortable. 

 

I did not go back to school after prison; I found it hard to catch up. I now work with my uncles who own an animal feed factory.

 

I was released at Salem checkpoint on 1 June 2023. I went home with my father, my brother, my uncles and friends. My family invited everyone over for dinner.