My brother woke me up at around 3:00 a.m. and told me Israeli soldiers were at our front door. He told me to prepare myself. Then I heard the sound glass shattering. My father hurried and opened the front door just in time before the soldiers broke it open. Seven soldiers entered our home together with their commander. Some were masked, others were not. 

 

The commander approached me and asked me for my identity card. Then he examined it and then told me I was under arrest. He told me he wanted to know how I got the injury to my hand about two months earlier. He also told me he had arrested two other young men involved in the incident. He then gave my father a document and asked him to sign it. 

 

Then the soldiers searched our house. They broke my wardrobe and took my old mobile phone. My sisters, who were 10 and 12 years-old, were terrified. The whole thing took about 10 minutes. After searching our house, a soldier tied my hands behind my back with two plastic ties connected together around my wrists like a chain. The ties were tight and painful. Then I was taken outside where I was left out in the rain. A soldier then blindfolded me. 

 

I was left outside for about 10 minutes while they arrested my cousin. Then I was taken to the back of a military jeep where they made me sit on the metal floor between the soldiers’ legs. Inside the jeep the soldiers slapped and kicked me and called me “a son of a whore”. I was taken to the police station in Etzion settlement where I was left outside, on the ground, for a whole day; from around 4:00 a.m. until around 7:00 p.m.

 

At around 7:00 p.m. I was put in a GMC vehicle which took me to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem. I was left in the vehicle all night, until around 7:00 a.m. I was tied and blindfolded the whole time. I was given some water and at around 7:00 a.m. I was strip searched before being taken to section 13. 

 

The following day I was taken for interrogation. The interrogator was an intelligence officer in civilian clothes. He had a camera in the room and a voice recorder on his desk. He did not call a lawyer before he interrogated me. Instead, he called a lawyer for me after he was finished. The interrogator told me I had to listen to him at first and only when he was done talking was I allowed to talk. He did not inform me of my right to silence. 

 

The interrogator accused me of throwing stones, pipe bombs and a Molotov cocktail. He had 18 items on his list. When I denied the accusations, he shouted at me and told me not to lie because he had all the evidence against me he needed. I was questioned for about three hours. I continued to deny the accusations. At the end he gave me a document written in Arabic. I quickly read it and then signed it. Then he called a lawyer and allowed me to speak to him. The lawyer asked me how I was and told me he was going to represent me in court. The interrogator was listening on speaker phone. Then I was taken back to prison.

 

My first military court hearing was on 7 August 2023. My parents were not informed about the hearing and they did not attend. My detention was extended. I had four hearings. I was supposed to have another one in October but then the war started and my hearing was cancelled. 

 

After 7 October 2023 things got very bad in prison. Guards frequently raided our cells and beat us up. They threw out the items in the prison shop and took away our shavers. They gave us uncooked food which was hardly enough for the large number of prisoners. Our numbers went up from 6 to 12 in one cell and some of us had to sleep on the floor. They took away our extra clothes and the pillows and blankets and sheets. I was locked up with my cousin in a small cell and we were not allowed to shower for a whole week. This was to punish us because they found a radio with us. We were not allowed to mix with the other prisoners. 

 

On the day of my release, I was told I had an interrogation. I was worried. It turned out I was taken for a meeting with the intelligence officer who told me I was going to be released in the deal with Hamas. Then he warned me I would find myself in prison again before I even thought of throwing Molotov cocktails or pipe bombs. He told me I was not allowed to take part in any nationalistic activities, like funerals of Palestinians killed by Israelis. He also told me I was not allowed to celebrate my release at home. Then he phoned my father and told him the same thing. He took the number plate of the car that was going to pick me up. He told my father he was allowed one car only.

 

I was released on 30 November 2023. My parents met me at in Ramallah, at the town hall and took me to my cousin’s house in a village near Ramallah. The following day my parents took me to the hospital because I was not feeling well. The food in prison did not suit me and I had stomach pain. Then we went home.