An Israeli soldier woke me up at around 2:30 a.m. I opened my eyes and saw him standing over my head telling me “get up…get up”. The soldier did not wait for me to put my boots on and made me put on my flip flops. My father had opened our front door when the soldiers started to bang aggressively. About 15 soldiers entered our home while many more remained outside. 

 

The soldiers remained in our home for about 15 minutes. Then one of them tied my hands behind my back with two tight plastic ties on top of each other. The ties were very painful and my hands swelled and turned blue. Then the soldiers took me outside without giving my parents any documents about the reasons for my arrest. I think they had information on me from this one collaborator known to everyone in the Camp. 

 

The soldiers took me on foot towards Rachel’s Tomb, not far from our house. On the way I was kicked and slapped. One of the soldiers deliberately kicked me on an injury I had behind my knee. I was in severe pain. I had received a gunshot injury to my leg about two months before I was arrested. Israeli soldiers shot me near Rachel’s Tomb during clashes on Nakba Memorial Day.

 

I was taken inside a military watchtower where I was left for about two hours. I was slapped during this time, but not too hard. Then I was taken to Atarot police station, in East Jerusalem, where I was left in an outdoor cadge for about three hours. As soon as I arrived a soldier blindfolded me. I was with another detainee. I was not given any food or drink but I was allowed to use a toilet. A soldier accompanied me to the toilet which was embarrassing and humiliating. At around 8:00 a.m. a soldier removed the ties and the blindfold and I was taken for interrogation.

 

The interrogator was in civilian clothes and had a pistol on his side. He was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans. He had a voice recorder on his desk which he turned on and off during the interrogation. He asked me if I needed to speak to a lawyer. I asked him if my case was bad enough to require a lawyer and he said it was. Then he phoned a lawyer and allowed me to speak to him. I did not trust the lawyer when I found out who he was. He told me I was accused of throwing pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails and of incitement. He told me if I did not want these accusations to hold, I should confess to throwing stones. I did not like his advice at all.

 

The interrogator told me I had the right to remain silent. I understood this to mean it was ok for me not to answer his questions, or at least some of them. Then he accused me of throwing pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails. I denied the accusations. He showed me photographs and video footage and I continued to deny the accusations. He told me he was never going to send me home if I continued to deny the accusation. He questioned me for about 45 minutes. He did not ask me to sign any documents. 

 

The interrogator left the room for a short while and then came back. He asked me the same questions and accused me of the same accusations. He wanted to know how I blew off the finger in my left hand and he showed me footage showing an explosion. I continued to deny all the accusations. At the end he asked me to sign a document written in Hebrew and when he translated it for me I signed it. By the time I was done with the interrogations it was around 11:00 a.m. They brought me some food but I did not have any appetite so I did not eat. 

 

After the interrogation I was taken to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem, where I was strip searched before being taken to section 13. The following day I was taken for another interrogation by the same interrogator. He did not call a lawyer for me but he told me I had the right to remain silent. He accused me of the same accusations. I denied all the accusations. He did not ask me to sign any documents. I was questioned for about 45 minutes and then I was taken back to prison.

 

On the fifth day following my arrest I was taken to Ofer military court. My parents were not told about the hearing so they did not attend. My detention was extended. I had four more military court hearings. The next one was supposed to be on 23 October 2023, but then the war started and the hearing was cancelled.

 

After 7 October the conditions in prison were terrible. They brought us small quantities of uncooked food. They did not allow us to call home and this made my parents very worried because they did not hear from me for a long time. They also stopped family visits. I was lucky because I had two family visits before 7 October. They shortened the break time outside the cells to 10 minutes only. My morale was down.

 

On the day of my release I was told I had another interrogation. I did not believe them because I had a feeling I was going to be released in the deal with Hamas. I was taken into a waiting room where I waited until around midnight. I was with 18 other detainees. Then, at around midnight, on 30 November 2023, I was taken to Beitunia where I met my mother and cousins. I arrived home with them at around 4:00 a.m. 

 

My mother knew I was going to be released that day. An Israeli intelligence officer had phoned her and told her we were not allowed to celebrate my release. Also, before I was released an Israeli officer met with me and told me the same thing. He told me to focus on school. 

 

The most difficult part of this experience was being away from home, away from my family, especially my mother. I always dreamed of wanting to be a goal keeper, but now my dream has been shattered when I lost my finger because of the explosion. I will do my best and will study hard, and then I will see what I want to do with my life.