I was with my uncle fixing a tap at my grandparents’ house at around 6:00 p.m. when I heard shooting coming from our village. I left my uncle and headed towards the centre of the village to see what was going on. My uncle called me back but I kept going.

 

When I arrived at the centre of our village I saw some boys and young men confronting a group of Israeli soldiers who had entered our village. Soldiers often enter our village without provocation. They come from the direction of the nearby settlement of Bracha as the soldiers are based there to protect the settlers.

 

Almost as soon as I arrived on the scene the soldiers started to chase us and they surrounded me so I couldn't run away. Some soldiers then grabbed me and immediately slapped and beat me with the back of their guns all over my body. They also swore at me and called me "a son of a whore".

 

The soldiers then led me towards some military jeeps waiting at the entrance to the village where they tied my hands to the front with one plastic tie which was not tight or painful. They also blindfolded me and pushed me into the back of a jeep together with other boys and made me sit on a seat.

 

The jeep drove for about 40 minutes to Huwwara military base where I was examined by a doctor. The soldiers removed the blindfold and the doctor asked me whether I was in pain and whether I smoked or had problems breathing. He then made me fill out a form. While I was there the doctor replayed a voice recording from the commander who said he wanted to teach me and the other boys a lesson to make sure we stop throwing stones at soldiers. The doctor signed the form and I was blindfolded again and taken to the side of the road where I waited while the other boys were examined. By this time it was around 1:30 a.m.

 

I was then put in a troop carrier which drove to the nearby settlement of Bracha where the soldiers picked up two more soldiers as witnesses to testify against me and the other boys. The troop carrier then drove to Ariel settlement where I was left in an outdoor area together with the other detainees. It was around 2:00 a.m. It was freezing cold and I asked for some warm clothes but I was told there were no clothes. At around 2:20 a.m. I was searched and then taken for interrogation.

 

The interrogator wanted to know why I was arrested and where. He accused me of throwing stones and said he was going to send me to prison for causing damage to military vehicles. He did not inform me of any rights. He said the soldiers had entered the village to check on us and to make sure everything was ok and in return we pelted them with stones.

 

When I denied the accusation the interrogator lost his temper and told me he had footage proving I was throwing stones and that soldiers had testified against me. He recorded everything on a computer but did not have a tape recorder or a camera that I could see. I was in the room with him by myself and he questioned me for about 15 minutes. At one point the interrogator asked me for a telephone number of a relative but I refused because I didn’t want to bother my family. Then the interrogator insisted and I gave him my brother’s number.

 

At the end of the questioning the interrogator cut off the plastic tie and took my fingerprints. Then he asked me to sign a document in Hebrew but I refused because I didn’t understand it. Then he gave me a document in Arabic and asked me to sign it and I did after reading it and realizing it was identical to what I had said.

 

Then I was handcuffed and shackled and taken to be photographed. They made me wait until they finished interrogating the other boys and a soldier brought me a sandwich and allowed me to use the toilet. Then they removed the shackles and the handcuffs and replaced them with a plastic tie on my hands only. The tie was very tight and painful and when they removed it my wrists were sore.

 

Then I was taken back to Huwwara where I waited outside a room. Soldiers who went by spat at me and threw an apple skin at me and kicked me. They also called me a terrorist. By this time it was around 7:00 a.m. Later I was taken into a room with three other boys. They turned a noisy recording on, shouting and other sounds, to scare us. Then they threatened to teach us a harsh lesson. They pushed me against a wall and swore at me calling me "a son of a whore".

 

Then they took me to the back of a military jeep and threw me on top of another boy who was on the floor before lifting me up to sit on a seat. The jeep drove to Ariel settlement and then back to Huwwara where I sat on the side of a road until around 10:00 p.m.

 

Then they searched me in my underwear and took me to a cell. The soldier who took me to the cell shouted at me in Hebrew which I didn’t understand. He then threatened to make me sleep outside. By this time it was around 11:00 p.m. I was able to sleep until around 7:00 a.m. In the morning the soldiers brought me an apple, a piece of bread and some yogurt.

 

At around 8:00 a.m. I was handcuffed and shackled and taken to a troop carrier which drove from around 8:00 a.m. until around 6:00 p.m. when we arrived at Megiddo prison, inside Israel. It was an exhausting trip. I found it difficult to tolerate the discomfort. At Megiddo I was searched and then I was told I was going to be taken back to Huwwara to be released. At Huwwara I was given back my personal belongings and told I was free to go. It was around 9:00 p.m. A soldier threatened to lock me up for three years if I get arrested again. 

 

I started to walk away from the military base until I saw a Palestinian police car and they gave me a lift to town. I arrived home at around 10:00 p.m. My friends and relatives came to greet me and to celebrate my release. I was released on 19 September 2016 without charge.