I was awake when I heard some strange sounds from inside our house. It was around 3:30 a.m. I went to see what was going on and saw about 20 Israeli special forces already inside our home. Most of them were masked and looked scary. I asked what was going on and the commander asked me for my name and identity card. They also checked my mother’s and older brother’s identity cards.

 

The soldiers quickly searched our house and then the commander told me I was under arrest. He did not give me or my family any documents and did not say why I was under arrest. They remained inside our house for no more than 20 minutes and then took me outside. Once outside my hands were tied to the front with one plastic tie which was not painful. I was also blindfolded before being pushed into the back of a military jeep which was waiting outside our house. I was made to sit on the metal floor, tied and blindfolded. 

 

I was taken someplace but I was not told where it was. I was left in an outdoor area for a long time. At around noon I was given a dry piece of bread and some chocolate milk. I was allowed to use the toilet. At around noon I was taken to Al Jalama interrogation centre, inside Israel.  I arrived there sometime at night but could not tell exactly when. I was strip searched before being taken to a cell where I was left in solitary confinement for 28 days.

 

The cell was very small and did not have any windows. The light was left on all the time which made it hard for me to fall asleep. There was a thin mattress on the floor and the walls were rough and painted grey. I was in distress because I did not see or speak to anyone, except the interrogator. I begged the guards to tell me the time but they refused. 

 

My first interrogation was on the second day following my arrest. The interrogator was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. He handed me a document written in Arabic and Hebrew with my rights written on it. They included my right to consult with a lawyer and my right to call my family and my right to remain silent. I asked him what was meant by the right to remain silent and he explained to me that I had the choice of either speaking and answering his questions or remaining silent if he accuses me of something I did not do. I decided not to remain silent because I wanted to tell him I did not do anything wrong.

 

Then he called a lawyer and allowed me to speak to him on the phone. The lawyer told me not to confess to anything I did not do even if the interrogator applied pressure on me to confess. I spoke to him for about a minute and the interrogator was listening on speaker phone. 

 

After speaking to the lawyer the interrogator accused me of six or seven accusations I had nothing to do with, including weapons possession. He was mostly calm but he threatened to keep me in prison for a long time if I did not confess. He also told me that my friend had confessed against me. He questioned me for about three hours and did not ask me to sign any documents. After the interrogation I was taken back to the cell. 

 

During my time is solitary confinement I was interrogated many times; sometime every day, sometimes every other day. I think I was interrogated at least 14 times. I was allowed to speak to a lawyer only on two occasions and I was shown the rights document only once. I don’t remember whether I was asked to sign any documents.

 

On day 29 they brought another detainee into my cell. Then I was transferred to Megiddo prison, also inside Israel. I was searched with my clothes on and then I was taken to the adults’ section because I had already turned 18 by this stage. 

 

My first military court hearing was two days following my arrest. My parents were not informed and they did not attend. I had about 20 court hearings. My last hearing was 13 days before I was released. At that hearing I was sentenced in a plea bargain to four months in prison and fined NIS 500. I was also given another 10 months in prison suspended for five years. I accepted the deal because I knew I was going home in 13 days. 

 

I spent my sentence at Megiddo. My parents were given one permit to visit me but I never saw them because I was punished at that time and the authorities denied me a family visit as part of the punishment. I only saw my family in court. 

 

I was released on 20 February 2023, at Salem checkpoint. I rang my brother from a taxi driver’s phone and my brother met me at a petrol station. I arrived home at around noon.