Testimonies
Voices from inside — and from the families left waiting. These are the words of those who have lived the carceral system. Filter by category to focus on a theme.
An open, living archive. This is an open-source project: the collection of testimonies below is public and will keep growing richer over time as more voices are documented and verified. Each account is published verbatim, with attribution and a source wherever one exists — and the record is far from complete.
- Ayman Lubbad
📍 Zikim → Ofekim military base → Jabal Al Mukaber (Jerusalem)
26 December 2023 The Israeli occupying forces (IOF) have been carrying out mass arrests of Palestinians since the start of their ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. A military chief of the IOF announced that, as of 17 December 2023, they had taken over a thousand Palestinians captive in Gaza. This announcement followed the emergence of photos and videos on social media platforms, exposing the inhuman and degrading treatment of Palestinians in the city of Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip. The published pictures and videos showed hundreds of detainees—including children—forced to sit on the street, half-naked and stripped of their clothes in harsh weather conditions, before being transferred in packed Israeli military trucks to unknown locations. Among those arrested was our colleague Ayman Lubbad, a researcher in the Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Unit at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), who was staying at his family home in the northern city of Beit Lahia. He was detained on 7 December 2023, and was released at the Kerem Shalom crossing south of the Gaza Strip on 14 December 2023. Currently, he finds himself in Rafah city, separated from his wife and three children. For almost a week, no one had any information on Ayman’s whereabouts or well-being. In a testimony, Ayman recounted the dreadful experience he had to endure, exemplifying the inhumane a...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Not named (pediatrician)
📍 Unknown detention facility (barracks, multiple sections)
After the Israeli aggression escalated amid relentless bombardment that destroyed houses over their residents’ heads and inflicted a large number of casualties, my son Diaa’ and I were no longer able to stay in our house, so we decided to seek refuge in the Hospital where I work. This was in mid-November 2023 when Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) besieged Kamal ‘Adwan Hospital and the situation there got worse amid only few medical staff remained on duty and fear and anxiety prevailing among the medical staff, patients, the wounded and their companions, and the displaced. Moreover, it had become extremely difficult to access medicines, medical supplies, food, and water. In light of those dire circumstances, the medical staff at the pediatrics department were treating a large number of children infected with Intestinal infectious diseases, pneumonia and meningitis given the chronic shortage of medicine and medical supplies. I was also an eyewitness to the Israeli bombardment on the hospital’s pediatric inpatient department, killing a child and wounding his mother and another bombing that targeted the hospital’s western gate and destroyed several cars in addition to a third one targeting the hospital’s northern gate, killing 4 to 6 persons inside a car not to mention the scattering shrapnel that was hitting the hospital buildings’ roofs. Since arriving at the Anglican Hospital ...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Ahmed Bashir Ahmed Shahin
📍 Detention facility in Jerusalem (barracks) → second facility (asbestos barrack with cages)
Ahmed Bashir Ahmed Shahin (36), married with 3 children, originally from Rafah but now displaced in Khan Younis. Testimony taken on 10 January 2025 I am married to Mai Isma’il Mohammed Hamad (36), and we have 3 children: Bashir (9), Amir (8) and Mira (4). I lived in al-Salam neighborhood in Rafah City and worked as a construction worker in Israel. I obtained a work permit on 01 October 2023 and went to work in Israel. On 10 October 2023, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) withdrew our permits as they have become invalid. At around 09:00 that day, the Israeli police stopped me and other workers and arrested us until around 18:00, when we were handed to the border police, totaling around 40 workers. The police officers then beat us, hurled the worst and most offensive insults and then forced us onto transfer buses. We stayed in those buses until 04:00 on 11 October 2023, when we were dropped off at a detention facility in Jerusalem, and the IOF took us. The detention facility was a 500-sqm barrack lined by fencing from the inside and barbed wire on the outside with concrete flooring and a tinplate ceiling in addition to 2 toilets. At the gate, our hands and feet were tied, and our eyes were blindfolded, unable to see anything. We spent the first night with no mattresses, food or water, and whoever wanted to use the toilet must take permission and go into the toilet while h...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Ahmed Ibrahim al-Ghandour
📍 Ofer Prison → open-air tent → facility near Jericho
Ahmed Ibrahim al-Ghandour, married with 2 children and resident of Deir al-Balah, gave his testimony to PCHR on 09 December 2023. I used to work in a wedding hall in Ashkelon, Israel, after obtaining a work permit on 01 July 2022. At around 07:00 on 07 October 2023, I woke up to sound of explosions from Palestinian rockets and iron dome interceptions, so my colleagues and I hid inside the hall for a week having enough food and beverages. After a week, the hall’s owner arrived and told us that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) would come for search. We immediately called a cab to take us to the West Bank, and at one of the checkpoints, IOF stopped the car, forced us out, and tied our hands with plastic zip ties. We remained tied at the checkpoint until midnight when we were transferred to ‘Ofer Prison, where they took my cell phone, clothes, ID card and money (11670 shekels.) In the first 3 days in prison, they gave us only a slight of bread with little jam, a bare minimum just enough to keep us alive. On Thursday, 17 October 2023, I was summoned for interrogation, during which, I was beaten and insulted. I was then taken to a cell, where soldiers insulted me and were passing their weapons on the cell bars making loud noise to annoy us. On Thursday, 02 November 2023, I along with other detainees went on a hunger strike due to the little food they gave us. During the stri...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Ahmed Abdel Fattah Ahmed Jabri
📍 Social Affairs basement → Sde Teiman → Ofer Prison → Negev Prison → Sde Teiman
Date of Statement: 10 December 2025 Ahmed Abdel Fattah Ahmed Jabri, 48 years old, married, father of three children, resident of Khan Younis. I lived in a ground-floor apartment in my family’s three-storey house in the Al-Amal neighbourhood of Khan Younis. When the war on Gaza began on 7 October 2023, my family, relatives, and I were at home. We remained there for months, hearing intense bombardment everywhere. With the start of the Israeli military operation in Khan Younis in early December 2023, the situation became increasingly dangerous, particularly as Israeli occupation forces and their vehicles advanced into the Al-Katiba area north of the city and approached the eastern part of Al-Amal neighbourhood, as well as its western side, including the Social Affairs area and the Taiba Towers. Accordingly, on 7 January 2024, my wife, children, and I fled to the headquarters of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in the centre of Al-Amal neighbourhood, seeking safety, as many people were doing. A few days later, my brothers and their families joined us there. During our forced displacement, my brother Imad, 51 years old, was injured, while others were killed when an Israeli drone targeted a group of civilians on Al-Qudra Street, outside and opposite the northern side of the PRCS headquarters. I do not recall the exact date of the incident. My brother was admitted for t...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Mohammad Hamid Salem Abu Mousa
📍 Sports club (Khan Younis) → Sde Teiman → Ofer Prison → Negev Prison → Sde Teiman
Date of Testimony: 9 January 2026 Name: Mohammad Hamid Salem Abu Mousa, 45, married, and I have three children, living in Khan Younis I am married to Ms. Rawan Hassan Salha (36 years old). We have three children: Jouri (13 years old), Hamid (14 years old), and Yousef (7 years old). We reside in Al-Amal neighbourhood in Khan Younis. I have worked as a radiology and medical imaging specialist at the Ministry of Health since 2007. I lived with my family in our apartment located on the third floor of our extended family home in Al-Amal neighbourhood, Khan Younis. We had been leading a stable life, marked by a sense of safety, reassurance, and family stability. On the morning of 7 October 2023, I was at home while my wife had finished preparing our children for school and they had already left. However, upon hearing the loud explosions that occurred that morning, my wife immediately went to the school and brought the children back home. Approximately two hours later, the situation became clearer, as it was revealed that rockets had been launched toward the occupied territories and that the border fence had been breached. As events escalated and the Israeli army began carrying out intense airstrikes and bombardments targeting various areas of Khan Younis, a state of emergency was declared at Nasser Medical Complex. Accordingly, I was assigned to full duty under the emergency sche...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Fadi Rajab Abdel Kareem Hamoudah
📍 House (4th floor) → military site → barrack (unknown)
Fadi Rajab ‘Abdel Kareem Hamoudah (16) a Grade 10 student from Jabalia. I lived with my parents and 8 siblings in an apartment on the 2nd floor of a 4-strorey house, where my uncles also lived. Since the Israeli aggression started on Gaza on October 7th, we remained in the house despite the Israeli heavy airstrikes, fire belts and the warplanes opening fire at the houses at night. We were also hearing nearby roar of tanks and bulldozers. At around 08:00 on 24 December 2023, the bombardment intensified in the area and we could hear the tanks and bulldozers moving away. My 43-year-old father, my uncles, my grandfather, ‘Abdel Karim Hamoudah (75), and grandmother decided to leave the house and come back when the bombardment is over. We went to my deceased maternal grandfather’s house, which was around 200 meters away to the east. When we all arrived at the house, it was empty as my uncle, his family and grandmother left, but we did not know where. We remained there for 2 days without food or water and when we felt hungry, my father decided to leave the house raising a white flag and I went after him. We were surprised with 2 Israeli soldiers pointing their weapons at us and one of them ordered us to put our hands on our heads and kneel. He then ordered my father to call all those in the house to get out. All of them got out, and the soldiers separated women from men, ord...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Mahmoud Saeed Abu Foul
📍 Jabalia Al-Fakhoura School (Jabalia) → Zikim base → Sde Teiman
GAZA, November 2, 2025 (WAFA) – From his wheelchair in a makeshift tent in the central Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Saeed Abu Foul, 28, calls on his younger brother to hand him a glass of water. He has lost all direct connection with the world around him since he was blinded ten months ago due to torture he endured inside Israel’s infamous Sde Teiman camp. During his detention, Abu Foul, along with hundreds of other prisoners he encountered, was subjected to severe physical abuse. The worst moment, he recalls, was when a soldier struck his head with a metal chair about six weeks after his arrest. “I lost my sight when a soldier grabbed my head and smashed my forehead several times against an iron chair. I saw what looked like a flash of white light, and then nothing since,” Abu Foul told WAFA. He said he lost consciousness after the blows, and when he woke up, he could no longer see. “I thought it was temporary—maybe hours or days—but my vision never returned.” His eyelids have since fused shut, oozing blood and tears with a foul odor. Despite repeated pleas for medical help, prison authorities only gave him ointment and eye drops once. “I kept asking for treatment, but they ignored me. The pain in my eyes and head never stopped—it feels like an electric current running from my head to my left eye,” he said. Abu Foul now lives with his family in a small tent in the town of Al-Zawai...
WAFA Source →
- Hassan Mohammed Hasan Abu Reidah
📍 Military site near Sharia Court → barracks (border area) → second detention place
Hassan Mohammed Hasan Abu Reidah (36), father of three children, resident of Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis, gave his testimony on 28.03.2024 After the 7 October events and the breakout of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, we immediately decided to evacuate to central Khan Younis because we lived in a border area. In the beginning, I took shelter in Shubair Family Council, called “Diwan” in Arabic, in Khan Younis, but the next day I sought shelter in al-Hourani “A” School near al-Thahrah roundabout. At the school shelter, we lived in dire circumstances, especially after the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) moved into western Khan Younis on 22.01.2024; we suffered from scarce food supplies and relentless bombardment. On 25.01.2024, Israeli warplanes bombed al-Thahrah neighborhood killing four and wounding others. Using an auto rickshaw, called “Toktok” in Arabic, and donkey carts, I helped with the evacuation of people injured to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis On 28.01.2024, Israeli quadcopters ordered via loudspeakers the people sheltering in the school and in the area to evacuate via al-Rasheed Street to Al Aqsa University. The IOF had established there a military checkpoint and Hallabat, a word in Arabic means the milking of cows’ gates, to identify people crossing the checkpoint. We headed in groups through the designated roads. I walked alone without my wife, Mrs. As...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Isma'il Ibrahim Sha'ban Qarmout
📍 Barracks (unknown) → Negev Prison → barracks (returned)
Isma’il Ibrahim Sha’ban Qarmout (33), married with two children, resident of Jabalia al-Balad, north of Gaza, gave his testimony to PCHR on 01 April 2024. I lived with my family in a 4-story building of 300 sqms, a house to 5 families of 24 members, including 12 children and 6 women. My 190-sqm apartment was on the first floor and I work as a biomedical engineer. Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on 07 October 2023, we remained in our house because our area was dubbed as a “safe zone” according to an interactive map circulating on social media and the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) urging evacuations to our area. On 19 November 2023, we started hearing the sound of nearby bombings of homes and lands, and the roaring sound of Israeli tanks and bulldozers. At around 02:00 on 20 November 2023, the IOF called one of the neighbors and ordered him to inform all residents of our area to evacuate, because they would bomb houses there but did not specify any. I took my handbag with 25000 shekels and 5000 US dollars inside in addition to some personal documents and clothes. We were already prepared for evacuation, and during our evacuation, my grandmother with a disability, Faitma Mustafa Qarmout (88), fell on the ground and injured her leg, so we carried her and immediately fled the area. My grandmother later suffered from gangrene affecting her foot an...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Jalal Salem Mohammed Abu 'Aabdah
Jalal Salem Mohammed Abu ‘Aabdah (34), from al-Bureij refugee camp and married with 4 children, gave his testimony to PCHR on 31 January 2024 I was then taken back to the music room for 4 hours and then put with other detainees on a bus, where I was severely beaten and insulted, and drove us back to the barrack, spending there my whole detention period. During my detention, the Shin Bet offered me to collaborate with them and in exchange they would secure my children’s future, but I refused to.
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- M. 'A. S.
📍 Military site near Egyptian border → military site in Rafah → Soroka Hospital
M. ‘A. S. (21) from Jabalia and currently displaced in Mawasi Khan Younis Testimony on 25 August 2024 I was a tailor but am now unemployed due to the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip and ensuing displacement. After the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip began on 07 October 2024, I stayed with my family in our house for 50 days. However, the situation got worse when the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) indiscriminately fired artillery shells on our area and many fell on our house on 18 November 2023. As a result, the gas cylinders at home exploded, and my father was hit with shrapnel in his lower back. As hospitals were out of service, my uncle, who is a nurse at the Indonesian Hospital, had to treat my dad, and then we had to evacuate to Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, near the UNRWA-run barracks. My dad was diabetic and wheelchair-bound due to previous brain strokes, so his injury was infected, and he eventually died on 29 February 2024. We stayed in Rafah behind the UNRWA barracks until IOF started their invasion into the city nearly in the beginning of May 2024, and targeted several places behind the UNRWA barracks, forcing us to flee and seek shelter in al-Somoud displacement camp in Mawasi Khan Yunis, where we are currently staying. To make a living and support my family, at around 10:00 on Sunday, 23 June 2024, I went with a group of 19 young men (I do not know any of them) to the K...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Mohammed Nawaf Ahmed Abu Tawila
📍 Yazji building → Sufa barracks → Soroka Hospital → field hospital → Ofer Prison → Ramla Hospital → Ofer (Section 23) → Negev Prison
Mohammed Nawaf Ahmed Abu Tawila, 36 years old, married, resident of Al-Shuja’iya neighborhood, Gaza. Testimony Date: February 27, 2025 On October 10, 2024, three days after the Israeli military launched its assault on the Gaza Strip, as the relentless bombardment intensified, all residents of my neighborhood on Al-Mansour Street in Al-Shuja’iya evacuated. My wife, Noor Abu Tawila, 27 years old and pregnant at the time, and I decided to flee. She later gave birth during the war to our son, Ayash, who is now one year old. That day, we sought refuge at the home of our relatives in the southern Al-Rimal neighborhood. The war continued with extreme brutality, with bombardments everywhere, and we remained in that house throughout. On March 13, 2024, at around 2:00 a.m., without any prior warning, we were suddenly surrounded by a large number of Israeli tanks and soldiers who besieged the building we were staying in. We remained trapped inside for five consecutive days, surviving only on thyme, olive oil, and water. On March 18, 2024, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Israeli forces blew open the entrance of the building we had taken refuge in. A pharmacist who lived in the building, whose name I do not know, spoke to the soldiers in English. The soldiers then ordered all men to exit without clothing, holding their identification. I stepped out wearing only my undergarments (boxers) an...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Rami Abdel Razeq Ahmed Musleh
📍 Zikim → Erez area → Beersheba barracks
Rami ‘Abdel Razeq Ahmed Musleh (42), a construction worker from Beit Hanoun, north Gaza, and married with 10 children. PCHR received his testimony on 09 January 2024. At around 01:30 on Sunday, 08 October 2023, the Israeli warplanes bombed the area where I lived with several missiles. All the house windows were broken and doors were blown up, filing the air with dust and debris. I took my family downstairs to the ground floor and saw neighbors running. I asked one of them where you are heading and he said to the school because it is safer. I went with my family to UNRWA Palestine Preparatory School for Girls. People started flowing into the school, and we became 3200 persons distributed in 30 classrooms and 18 tents in the school yard. After the UNRWA ceased aid delivery, volunteers at school provided supplies for the displaced and met their needs as much as possible. We hardly provided water, and could barely have one meal instead of 3 to save food, living only on canned and starchy food. On 13 October 2023, around 1800 persons remained in the school, including my family, after people started evacuating to the south upon leaflets dropped by Israeli planes ordering evacuation. I refused to evacuate as my family is big and we do not know anyone there. Moreover, transportation price is very high and I only had money to meet my family’s needs, particularly the children....
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- S.S.
📍 Pit at hospital → military post → Sde Teiman (~3 months) → Ofer Prison (~1 month) → Negev Prison (Ketziot, ~1.5 years) → Kerem Shalom
S.S. In the very first days of the war we stayed at home, even though bombs were falling near us. After two days, I went to the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, on a journalistic assignment as a field reporter for several channels. Meanwhile, my family evacuated from the area. Some went to southern Gaza and others to central Gaza. From the Indonesian Hospital, I documented the occupation army’s killings and attacks on civilian infrastructure in the area: clinics, schools and mosques. I saw the suffering of people living in the shadow of the war, and sometimes I had to take photos of the dead and wounded who were brought to the hospital. There were charred and dismembered bodies, horrific sights that are hard to describe. Sometimes, I simply couldn’t bring myself to take photos of them. On 20 November 2023, when the occupying forces invaded the Indonesian Hospital, I moved to Kamal Adwan Hospital and continued my journalistic work there. But on 12 December 2023, the army also invaded Kamal Adwan Hospital. Following the invasion, there were many deaths among the wounded and sick people who were being treated at the hospital. There were also babies in the neonatal units whose fate is unknown. As time went by, the situation in northern Gaza became unbearable. It was almost impossible to film because the army invaded everywhere; there were constant b...
btselem Source →
- Saed al-Khatib
📍 Hospital ward → 'Hell' (unknown location) → swimming pool → Sde Teiman
Saed al-Khatib, A 42-year-old father of one from Jabalya Refugee Camp Until the war, I lived with my parents, Muna al-Khatib, 62, and Mahmoud al-Khatib, 68, and my sister Samah al-Khatib in Jabalya Refugee Camp in the northern Gaza Strip. At the beginning of the war, we woke up to the sound of rocket fire. I immediately understood the situation was serious and that this might be the start of a war, so I decided to stock up on essential supplies. We stayed at home until the first Israeli military invasion into Jabalya Refugee Camp, when soldiers entered the camp from the west and came very close to our area, bombed several houses near us, and shot several young men in the area. When the army got very close to our area, we all moved to a nearby UNRWA school. We took what we could and slept in one of the classrooms. Later, I carefully made my way back home to get more basic supplies. During this first invasion into Jabalya Refugee Camp, the situation in the school was also extremely dangerous. The army shelled and bombed the area nonstop, destroyed buildings and completely blockaded the school for a week, so no one could go in or out. We had no water or food, and drones hovered above us all the time. We saw how, at a nearby school, the army forcibly evacuated IDPs, detained the men, and then burned the building and raised an Israeli flag over it. The school we were in also ...
btselem Source →
- Sami a-Sa'i
📍 Huwarah military camp (~19 days) → Salem military camp (interrogation) → Megiddo Prison (~1 month) → Ramon Prison (~15 months)
Sami a-Sa'i, 46, a father of six from Tulkarm On 23 February 2024, shortly after midnight, an Israeli military force raided my home in the Irtah neighborhood in southern Tulkarm, and arrested me. They put me in a military jeep that took me to the military camp in Huwarah, where I was held for about 19 days. I wasn’t beaten or abused there. During that time, I was taken to the Salem military camp, where I was interrogated by Israeli police. The police officer who interrogated me introduced himself as Khaled and accused me of belonging to Hamas and aiding a Palestinian armed group. I denied both accusations. At the end of the interrogation, the police officer told me they’d decided to put me in administrative detention for four months. After the interrogation, I was taken back to Huwarah. Sometime between 10 and 12 March 2024, Border Police officers transferred me from the detention facility in Huwarah to Megiddo Prison. A masked female Border Police officer received me. She conducted a physical search on me, blindfolded me, and led me to the prison infirmary escorted by the same Border Police officers. On the way to the infirmary, I heard the screams of detainees who were being beaten by prison guards, and I heard the soldiers chanting “Am Yisrael Chai” [the People of Israel live] and forcing the detainees to repeat after them. At the infirmary, a doctor received me and...
btselem Source →
- Tamer Qarmut
📍 Building near hospital (interrogation) → truck → Sde Teiman (shack, 'disco' room, al-Kalabeh) → Negev Prison (Ketziot, cell then tent wing) → al-Bakh wing → released 13/10/2025
Tamer Qarmut, A 41-year-old father of five from Beit Lahiya Until the war I lived with my wife, Manar ‘Ali Saleh, 36, and our five children, ‘Amer, 17, ‘Abd a-Ra’uf, 16, Hibat Allah, 13, Muhammad, 10, and Hala, 3, in Beit Lahiya. In 2001, I injured my leg and I’ve had a disability ever since. We lived in a small apartment in a building owned by the family west of Kamal ‘Adwan Hospital. Our lives were simple but relatively stable, despite the financial difficulties. On the morning of 7 October 2023, at 6:30 A.M., I woke up to the sound of loud explosions. A few seconds later, my children, who had already left for school, came home. I started following the news on TV and social media, and learned that the Palestinian resistance had launched rockets and that the border fence had been breached. I knew the response would be severe, and I decided to stay home with my wife and the children. On Tuesday evening, 10 October, Israeli fighter jets bombed the home of the ‘Afaneh family near us. Pieces of the building hit our home and shattered the windowpanes, but we weren’t hurt. On 13 October, the Israeli military dropped leaflets ordering us to leave our homes and go south, past Wadi Gaza. We refused to leave, and other relatives and acquaintances of ours stayed with us in the family building. We were almost 70 people, most of them women and children. On 23 November, an...
btselem Source →
- Ameen Abdallah Ismail Al-Athamneh
📍 1st: Zikim (released) — 2nd: Sde Teiman → Ofer Prison ('The Disco') → Tajnid Intelligence (Jerusalem) → Negev → Sde Teiman
Testimony Date: 22 May 2025 Ameen Abdallah Ismail Al-Athamneh, 41 years old, resident of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, and currently displaced in Gaza City. I am married and employed by the Palestinian Authority. My family consists of eight members: my wife, my six children, and me. On the morning of 7 October 2023, I was at my home in the Al-Bura area of Al-Amal neighbourhood in Beit Hanoun, near the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip. That morning, I was startled by the sound of rockets being launched. It became clear that Palestinian factions had begun a military operation. I anticipated a strong Israeli response, so I told my children not to go to school and warned them, “Stay inside.” We could hear explosions but didn’t understand what was happening. Two hours later, the Israeli army sent evacuation messages ordering us to leave Beit Hanoun. I evacuated my home and moved to my brother’s house, located two blocks away in another alley. Only four hours later, I was shocked to see my house bombed and completely destroyed by Israeli warplanes. Had we stayed, my children and I would have been among the casualties. The next day, 8 October 2023, at around 10:00 a.m., I took my wife and children and sought refuge in upper schools near Hamdan Restaurant—specifically in Palestine School in the Al-Falouja area south of Beit Hanoun. First Arrest We remained at the ...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Walid Anwar Yousif al-Khalili
📍 Military site → interrogation facility → Itamar prison → barracks
Walid Anwar Yousif al-Khalili (35), a Palestine Medical Relief Society (PMRS) Paramedic from Gaza City, married and father of 3 children, has given the following testimony to PCHR on 02 January 2024. “I work as a paramedic at PMRS next to al-Quds Hospital in Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City. At 10:00 on Monday, 13 November 2023, I met by coincidence Dr. Marwan al-Refati, the owner of Family Pharmacy in Gaza. I was wearing the PMRS paramedic uniform (a white coat with yellow lines bearing the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems) and carrying a first aid kit. I was on my way to check on 3 persons injured in Abu Jalal Dughmosh’s house, so Dr. Marwan accompanied me. After checking on them, we left the house together and walked on al-Mughrabi Street towards Barcelona Stadium in Tal al-Hawa neighborhood, southern Gaza City. At around 11:00 when we arrived at al-Sena’ah Street, east of the stadium, I heard a gunshot that hit Dr. Marwan in his abdomen. I looked to the west from which the bullet was fired, and saw Israeli soldiers in a residential building right to the west of the Barcelona Stadium. Only few seconds later, the Israeli soldiers, particularly snipers, fired another bullet at Dr. Marwan’s forehead, so he fell on the ground and left to bleed to death. The Israeli snipers continued shooting at me, so I hid behind a truck parked in the area and luckily did not get injure...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- A.A.
📍 Sde Teiman
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) documents one of the most heinous crimes that can be committed against human beings and their dignity in the modern era. In recent weeks, PCHR staff collected new testimonies from a number of Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip who were recently released from Israeli prisons and detention camps. These accounts reveal an organized and systematic practice of sexual torture, including rape, forced stripping, forced filming, sexual assault using objects and dogs, in addition to deliberate psychological humiliation aimed at crushing human dignity and erasing individual identity entirely. PCHR affirms that the testimonies do not reflect isolated incidents but constitute a systematic policy practiced in the context of the ongoing crime of genocide against more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including thousands of detainees held in prisons and military camps closed to international monitoring bodies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross. Testimonies documented by PCHR’s lawyers and field researchers contain harrowing testimonies relating to cases of rape perpetrated by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against Palestinian civilians, including women, who were arrested from different areas across the Gaza Strip over the past two years. These testimonies indicate that arrests were carried out without a...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- M.A.
📍 Not specified (Israeli detention)
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) documents one of the most heinous crimes that can be committed against human beings and their dignity in the modern era. In recent weeks, PCHR staff collected new testimonies from a number of Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip who were recently released from Israeli prisons and detention camps. These accounts reveal an organized and systematic practice of sexual torture, including rape, forced stripping, forced filming, sexual assault using objects and dogs, in addition to deliberate psychological humiliation aimed at crushing human dignity and erasing individual identity entirely. PCHR affirms that the testimonies do not reflect isolated incidents but constitute a systematic policy practiced in the context of the ongoing crime of genocide against more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including thousands of detainees held in prisons and military camps closed to international monitoring bodies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross. Testimonies documented by PCHR’s lawyers and field researchers contain harrowing testimonies relating to cases of rape perpetrated by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against Palestinian civilians, including women, who were arrested from different areas across the Gaza Strip over the past two years. These testimonies indicate that arrests were carried out without...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- T.Q.
📍 Not specified (Israeli detention)
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) documents one of the most heinous crimes that can be committed against human beings and their dignity in the modern era. In recent weeks, PCHR staff collected new testimonies from a number of Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip who were recently released from Israeli prisons and detention camps. These accounts reveal an organized and systematic practice of sexual torture, including rape, forced stripping, forced filming, sexual assault using objects and dogs, in addition to deliberate psychological humiliation aimed at crushing human dignity and erasing individual identity entirely. PCHR affirms that the testimonies do not reflect isolated incidents but constitute a systematic policy practiced in the context of the ongoing crime of genocide against more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including thousands of detainees held in prisons and military camps closed to international monitoring bodies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross. Testimonies documented by PCHR’s lawyers and field researchers contain harrowing testimonies relating to cases of rape perpetrated by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against Palestinian civilians, including women, who were arrested from different areas across the Gaza Strip over the past two years. These testimonies indicate that arrests were carried out without a...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Ahmad Khalifah
📍 Megiddo Prison (+ solitary confinement)
Att. Ahmad Khalifah (42), a father of three from Um al-Fahem, Israel I am married and have three children, a 10-year-old and twins who are 7. We live in the city of Um al-Fahem. I’m a lawyer and a member of the Um al-Fahem City Council. On Thursday, 19 October 2023, at around 8:00 P.M., I was at a protest against the attack on Gaza, speaking to the demonstrators through a loudspeaker. Suddenly, several police units raided the protest. I saw officers wearing three different types of uniforms. They threw stun grenades. I heard one of them say, “Khalifah, Khalifah.” He approached me. I held out my hands to show I wasn’t afraid of being arrested, and then I was surprised when he actually detained me and put me in metal handcuffs. They led me to a jeep, where there were 10 other detained demonstrators. On the way to the jeep they hit me, tore my shirt and kicked me. They threw me to the ground, and one of them kneed me in the chest several times. It was very painful. He also hit me hard in the face, and other police officers beat me, too. They put me in the jeep and drove us to the Iron police station. When we got there, they threw me on the floor. There were about 10 other detainees there, including four minors about 16 or 17 years old, but they held me far away from them. The beating continued at the station. They hit me with their hands and sometimes with wooden clubs, and kick...
btselem Source →
- Ahmad Salah
📍 Ofer Prison
Ahmad Salah (37), a father of two from al-Khader, Bethlehem District I live with my wife and our two daughters, Basmah, about 2, and Aylul, 8 months, in the old city of al-Khader, in the same building as my parents. On Saturday, 20 January 2024, at around 1:00 A.M., we were woken by banging, knocking and people’s voices. A few moments later, while we were still in bed, an officer and more than 10 soldiers, some of them masked, entered the room. They broke into the house using devices to open the door. The officer ordered us to go to the living room right away, and we got out of bed in our pajamas. I told him our two daughters were in their room, and he ordered me to go get them and bring them to the living room, too. My wife and I went into the girls’ room. They were still asleep. I picked Basmah up and my wife picked Aylul up. We sat down in the living room with them. The officer asked me if there was anyone else in the house and I told him there wasn’t. He ordered us to get our ID cards and cell phones, as well as the gold jewelry and money in the house. We got everything he asked for. The soldiers searched the rooms for about 10 minutes. Then they took pictures of my wife and me. One of the soldiers told me to hand Basmah to my wife and go with them. My wife asked them where I was going, and the soldier answered: “To prison.” They tied my hands behind my back and blindfo...
btselem Source →
- Ashraf al-Muhtaseb
📍 Etzion detention facility → Ofer Prison → Negev (Ketziot) Prison
Ashraf al-Muhtaseb (53), a father of five from Hebron I live with my wife Nidaa, 32, and our four children, Muhammad, 12, Zeid, 10, Adam, 8, and Iman, 7. I have another son from my first marriage, who is married and lives elsewhere. I have a BA in arts and am a wedding band manager. I also coach music bands. I used to have a mosaics studio. I’ve spent a total of six years in Israeli prisons. I was first arrested in 1989 and held for three months. On 8 October 2023, at about 2:00 A.M., I was woken by banging on our front door. I opened the door and about 10 masked soldiers came in. I saw a lot more troops surrounding the house. The leader of the force raised his mask and I recognized him as the Shinד Bet (ISA) officer “Captain Salem”, whom I know from prior arrests. He called me two days earlier, threatening to arrest me and warning me to avoid political activity. There was also another Shin Bet officer, who introduced himself as “Adib.” Captain Salem said he wanted to walk around the house. I woke my wife up and told her soldiers were there to arrest me. I asked her to pack me a bag with clothes. My son Muhammad woke up and was really scared when he saw the soldiers. When he heard they were going to arrest me, he started screaming. Then the soldiers put my wife and kids in the kids’ room, and one stood by the door pointing his gun at them. They took me to the living room. ...
btselem Source →
- J.M.
📍 Gush Etzion detention → Etzion Prison (3 days) → Ofer Prison (6 months) → Ketziot/Ohaley Kedar → Nafha Prison (1.5 years) → released 30/10/2025
J.M. On 14 February 2024, around midnight, Israeli soldiers broke into my home and raided it very violently. They detained me and my wife and ransacked our apartment and my parents’ apartment on the first floor of our shared building. During the raid, my wife collapsed from fear and fainted. She was unconscious for about three minutes, and the soldiers wouldn’t let me help her. I was forced to stand and look at her helplessly. After that, an officer ordered me to bring her water and take her to another room. I asked the officer what they wanted from me. He said he wanted me to hand over my weapon. I told him I didn’t have a weapon and that I was an officer in the Palestinian Preventive Security Service. The officer threatened to damage our home and destroy everything in it. After that, the soldiers took me down to the ground floor and tied my hands behind my back. On the ground floor of our building there are rented shops. They broke down their doors and caused extensive damage to property there. I told them my back hurt, so the officer cut the zip ties with a knife, wounding the palm of my left hand. The soldiers stayed in our home until around 9:00 A.M. Then they tied my hands in front of me and took me to a detention facility at a military base in Gush Etzion. After I was released, my wife told me that during the raid, the soldiers stole hard drives from our home with photo...
btselem Source →
- A.H.
📍 Ofer Prison (23 days) → Negev (Ketziot) Prison (admin detention, held through war) → released 15/04/2024
A.H., in his twenties, a father of one from Hebron District I live in the Hebron area with my wife and our little boy, who was born while I was in prison. I was arrested on 12 April 2022, at about 4:00 A.M. I was interrogated for 17 days for suspected membership in Hamas, and then I was taken to Ofer Prison, where they kept me for 23 days. From there I was transferred to Ketziot Prison, where I found out I’d been issued an administrative detention order for four months. At Ketziot, I was put in cell 9, wing 5, in the prison complex (A). We were five detainees in the cell, and things were relatively normal until 7 October 2023. That morning, I woke up early because of noises in the cell, and then one of the prisoners told me to get up and see what was happening. I saw on TV what happened in the communities by the border with Gaza. Then I heard noise and saw, through the window, a missile landing near the prison and more missiles after it. The guards ran away and left the wings, and we were in a panic. Three hours later, the electricity and water were cut off in the cell, and so was the TV. The IRF (the Israel Prison Service’s Initial Reaction Force) stormed into the wings and made us all stand facing the wall, threatening us with violence. They confiscated everything that was in the cells – kitchenware, clothes, shoes, electrical appliances, TVs and radios. They also remo...
btselem Source →
- Haitham Salem
📍 Military camp east of Jabalya → Sde Teiman (~4.5 months) → Ofer Prison → Negev (Ketziot) → released 13/10/2025
Haitham Salem, A 31-year-old from Beit Lahiya When the war began, I was living with my wife, Ikhlas ‘Issa, 32, and our three children, Baraa Salem, 8, Iman, 5, and Layan, 2, on the fourth floor of a four-story building in Beit Lahiya, very close to Jabalya Refugee Camp. My cousins lived in the other apartments in the building. At first, we didn’t leave our home. I thought the war would end after a few days, but later I realized it was nothing like previous wars. In December 2023, the military attacked Beit Lahiya and our house was hit. We had to flee and moved to my wife’s family home in Jabalya Refugee Camp. We stayed there for a few days and then were displaced again. This time we went to UNRWA headquarters in western Gaza City. We stayed there for five days and then returned to my wife’s family home. From time to time, I managed to visit our home in Beit Lahiya, which was partially destroyed in the bombardment. In February 2024, after several months of displacement, I repaired the damage as best I could and we moved back home. Other relatives of ours also moved back to the building. During the second invasion of Jabalya Refugee Camp, in May 2024, the Israeli military attacked the area around Kamal Adwan Hospital, which is located in Beit Lahiya not far from our home. Our building was directly hit by a missile that penetrated our floor and exploded on the second floor....
btselem Source →
- Hayel al-Kurd
📍 Abandoned house → 'refrigerator' (interrogation) → Sde Teiman (4 months) → Negev (Ketziot, ~8 months) → released 13/10/2025
Hayel al-Kurd, A 40-year-old father of eight from Jabalya Refugee Camp When the war started, I stayed at home with my wife and our eight children, between the ages of five and 19. We chose to stay even though it was so dangerous, because there were so many displaced people in the area and nowhere to go. Going south looked too dangerous. Our house was next to an UNRWA school, so we felt a bit safer. Even when the situation escalated, we stayed in the northern Strip. During the first invasion into Jabalya Refugee Camp, at the end of October 2023, we stayed home despite the heavy shelling and massive destruction, because the tanks didn’t reach our neighborhood. That was when severe hunger started in the northern Strip. We suffered unbelievably, more than I can describe. I had to go with my children to dangerous areas to collect firewood and khubeza plants to eat. One time, when we were picking khubeza, shells landed close to us. We ran away and by sheer luck were not hurt. In May 2024, the second attack on the camp began. The shelling grew heavier and we fled to the western part of the camp. We stayed there, displaced, for about a month. After the army withdrew from the camp, we went back to our house and found it almost completely destroyed. I managed to repair parts of it. I sealed partially destroyed walls and windows with plastic sheeting, and we moved back in. Even the...
btselem Source →
- Hussein a-Zweidi
📍 Zikim military post → Erez Crossing → Sde Teiman (~6 months) → Ashkelon Prison (Shikma) → Nafha Prison → Negev (Ketziot) → released 13/10/2025
Hussein a-Zweidi, A 25-year-old, from Beit Hanoun 6 October 2023 was a very emotional day for me, because my wedding party was supposed to take place the next evening. We had already signed the marriage contract and were officially married. That morning, I drove my wife to the hair salon and then went home to get ready and go to my barber. At 1:00 P.M., I went back to her place, and we went together to the wedding photo shoot. From there, I took her to the hall where her henna party was held, which went on until 5:00 P.M. Afterwards, I went home for my bachelor party, which started at 6:00 P.M. and lasted until midnight. Everything was joyful and happy. The next morning, I was in shock. I woke up to the sound of missiles and thought it was probably another escalation. Ten minutes later, I checked the news and realized how serious the situation was: I heard that armed Palestinian operatives had breached the border. I called my wife and told her we would have to cancel the wedding party, because my family and I were going to leave Beit Hanoun. We found shelter in schools in Jabalya Refugee Camp, and my wife told me that she and her family would move to their apartment in the Tel a-Za’atar neighborhood, which is also in Jabalya. The situation was difficult and got worse by the day. There were bombardments, and many people were killed and displaced. After about a month, my wif...
btselem Source →
- Jibril a-Safadi
📍 Empty pool → al-Hasmah compound → Sde Teiman (multiple stays, 'disco' room) → hospital (8 operations on legs) → Ofer Prison ('hell' ward) → Nafha Prison → released 13/10/2025
Jibril a-Safadi, A 45-year-old father of six from Khan Yunis Until the war, I lived with my wife and our six children, Yihya, 22, Sali, 20, Sujud, 18, Dima, 15, Nasmah, 12, and Riwaa, 10, in an apartment on the fifth floor of a building in the Madinat Hamad housing project in Khan Yunis, in the center of the Gaza Strip. Our apartment was destroyed when the army bombed the building. I am employed as a civil servant in the Gaza government. I grew up in a poor family in a-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City and lived my whole life as a poor, simple man, struggling to provide for his family. More than five years ago, I developed diabetes. On the first day of the war, my children’s classes at school and university were canceled. In the days that followed, the bombings began across the entire Gaza Strip. The situation escalated very quickly, and residents of the northern Gaza Strip started leaving their homes and fleeing south. But even the southern Gaza Strip wasn’t safe, and people were bombed and killed. My family and I stayed home and followed the news, hoping the war would end quickly. We stayed like that until the army invaded Khan Yunis in early December 2023. When they started bombing and destroying buildings in our area, we decided to leave. We gathered all the belongings we could and fled south, to the IDP camp in Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah. We set up a tent ...
btselem Source →
- M.A. (B'Tselem Living Hell)
📍 Unknown military camp → hospital → Jalameh interrogation center (68 days) → dark cell → Nafha Prison → released 13/10/2025
M.A. On 14 December 2024, a special Israeli unit raided my home . They arrived in vehicles with Palestinian license plates, surrounded the house and broke in. They took me out of the house, tied my hands, covered my eyes with a cloth, pushed me into one of the vehicles and threw me onto the floor. During the drive, the soldiers stepped on my stomach and other parts of my body. They took me to a military camp, I don’t know which, and gave me a basic medical examination. Because of the bruising on my chest and stomach, I was taken that night to a hospital, whose name I also don’t know. They ran some tests there and then transferred me to the Jalameh interrogation center. That’s where my interrogation period began. It lasted 68 days. I was interrogated on suspicion of helping wanted Palestinians and of failing to report them. The interrogations were brutal. They beat, abused, humiliated and cursed me. For the first 40 days, I was held in solitary confinement. After that, they transferred me to a dark cell with no light coming in. There were nine other detainees in the cell, all from the Gaza Strip. They told me they had been there for almost nine months. A few days after I was brought there, about 15 members of a special IPS unit burst into the cell. Without any warning, they sprayed us with pepper spray, beat us with batons and sticks and punched us with hard gloves. In...
btselem Source →
- Mahmoud Abu Ful
📍 Zikim → Sde Teiman (6 months) → Ofer Prison → Negev (Ketziot) → released 13/10/2025
Mahmoud Abu Ful, A 26-year-old from Beit Lahiya Until the war started, I lived with my parents and my six brothers and sisters near Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya. During the 2014 war [Operation Protective Edge], I was wounded by shrapnel in an Israeli airstrike on the market area in Jabalya Refugee Camp. Because my injury was so severe, I was hospitalized for three months at a-Najah Hospital in Nablus. I had surgeries, and my leg was amputated. On my way back to Gaza from the hospital in Nablus, I was arrested at Erez Checkpoint and held for two years in the Negev [Ketziot] Prison. After the war broke out in October 2023, homes were heavily bombed in the northern Gaza Strip. Because our house is close to Kamal Adwan Hospital, I saw the huge number of wounded people and bodies brought there. The situation was very dangerous and frightening. Because the bombing was so heavy, we left home and went to shelter in the hospital. We stayed there for about a month and a half, sleeping in the corridor. The bombings never stopped that whole time, and the fire raged all around us. We fled from the hospital to the home of my father’s family in Jabalya Refugee Camp, where the situation was a bit less dangerous. We stayed there from December 2023 to the end of May 2024. It was a very difficult time, because we were trapped in the camp and suffered from hunger and thirst. Ev...
btselem Source →
- Muhammad a-Ramlawi
📍 Building near Indonesian Hospital (interrogation 2-3 hrs) → trucks → Sde Teiman (~1 week) → Ofer Prison (~40 days) → Sde Teiman again → released 29/12/2024
Muhammad a-Ramlawi, A 30-year-old father of four from Jabalya Refugee Camp Before the war began, I lived in the al-Faluja area of Jabalya Refugee Camp with my wife, Islam Badran, 36, and our four children: Mahmoud, 12, Husam, 10, Basimah, 7, and Layan, 4. When the heavy bombardments began, I left with my family because I was afraid we would be hurt. At first, we fled west to my family’s home in the center of Jabalya Refugee Camp. Later, when the military got closer to the camp, we were displaced again. This time we went to the al-Juron area, which is also near the camp. When things calmed down a bit, we went home. When another invasion of the camp began, we didn’t leave despite the military’s threats and demands for everyone to evacuate. The military deployed robots carrying explosives around our home and blew up entire residential blocks. Eventually, they detonated robots with explosives near the entrance to our house, and the whole house blew up. I left the house with my wife and children two hours later, and we went to relatives who lived near Kamal Adwan Hospital. Two days later, quadcopters came there and announced on loudspeaker: “We’re going to bomb all the residential blocks. Anyone who stays inside is risking their life.” We had no choice but to leave again and follow a route the military defined as safe. This was on 21 October 2024. We left the house and took t...
btselem Source →
- Muhammad Khader
📍 Checkpoint → Sde Teiman (al-Hasmah interrogation, 'disco') → hospital (Soroka) → Sde Teiman → Ramla Prison clinic → Ofer Prison → Negev (Ketziot) → released 13/10/2025
Muhammad Khader, A 36-year-old father of five from ‘Izbet Beit Hanoun Until the war, I lived with my wife, Faeqah Khader, 37, a nurse, and our five children: Rimas, 16, Manar, 14, Hassan, 11, Layan, 9, and Mustafa, 5, in Beit Hanoun. I have asthma and take medication regularly. When we first got married, we lived in a rented apartment and moved several times. Then, in 2020, I borrowed money from friends and relatives and built us a 120-square-meter house. I’ve paid off USD 5,000 of the debt for building the house, and I still owe USD 11,000. I worked as a taxi driver, both before and after I got married, because in the bad economic situation in Gaza, there were no real work opportunities that would allow us to live a decent life. Because Beit Hanoun is close to the Israeli border, the area was very unsafe even before the current war, and there were many shooting incidents and attacks by the Israeli military. That’s why during previous wars and military operations in the Gaza Strip, we always left Beit Hanoun. In the past two years since the war began, my family and I have been through a lot of hardship: displacement, hunger and more. I was arrested and abused, physically attacked and sexually assaulted – experiences that affected me and will continue to affect me for the rest of my life. On 7 October 2023, my wife was getting the children ready for school, and our you...
btselem Source →
- Nassim a-Radi'
📍 Military camp Beit Lahiya → Sde Teiman → shabah room (hung on butcher's hoist 10 hrs) → Kishon/Jalameh (25 days interrogation) → collaborators' cell Megiddo → Kishon again → Ofer Prison → Nafha Prison → Ramon → Negev (Ketziot) → released 13/10/2025
Nassim a-Radi’, A 34-year-old father of four from Beit Lahiya Until the war I lived with my wife, Shuruq al-Masri, 32, and our four children, Muhammad, 9, Shaimaa, 7, Sama, 4, and Siba, 3, in an apartment in a three-story building owned by my family on a-Radi’ Street in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. Our life was peaceful and full of love and the warmth of family. Our home was more than just a roof over our heads. It gave us safety and peace of mind. We had a farm, and I supported my family by working as a farmer on our own land and as a hired laborer on other people’s farms. On Saturday, 7 October 2023, at around 6:30 A.M., I woke up in a fright from explosions while my wife was getting Shaimaa and Muhammad ready for school. When I looked out the window, I saw the Palestinian resistance firing heavy barrages of rockets toward Israel. I turned on the TV and checked online, and realized we should stay home and not go out. We stayed in the house until Thursday, 12 October 2023, at around 6:00 P.M., when the occupation planes started directly attacking our building. A large part of the building was destroyed. My aunt Salwa a-Radi’, 50, was killed, and my mother, Hiyam a-Radi’, 55, was seriously injured. My daughter Sama was lightly injured. Because of the bombing, we had to flee to Khalifah bin Zayed School run by UNRWA in the Beit Lahiya Project. My wife’s ...
btselem Source →
- W.B.
📍 Jalameh/Kishon (65 days interrogation) → Megiddo Prison (~1.5 years) → Ohaley Kedar → Ramle → Nafha Prison → released 10/04/2025
W.B. I was arrested on 12 April 2022 at my home in the al-Wad neighborhood of Qalqilya and taken to the Jalameh (Kishon) interrogation center, where I was held for 65 days. I went through very harsh interrogation there, including solitary confinement and abuse so severe that, at one point, I was transferred to Rambam Hospital for treatment and then sent back to Jalameh. After 65 days of interrogation, I was sentenced to three years in prison on security-related charges. At first I was transferred to Megiddo Prison, where I was held for about a year and a half. Then, in December 2023, I was transferred to Nafha Prison. I went through two completely different periods in prison. The first was before 7 October 2023, and the second was after the war began. The conditions during those two periods were totally different. Before 7 October 2023, my family paid me visits once a month arranged by the Red Cross. But after the war began, I didn’t see them at all until I was released. Visits were completely stopped for all prisoners, and all the conditions became much harsher and degrading. Until 7 October, life in prison followed procedures: roll calls, meals, yard time. After the war started, all our rights were taken away and everything was confiscated: hot plates for warming food, electric razors, TV sets, radios, wristwatches, underwear and outer clothing. We were left with only pants...
btselem Source →
- R.H.
📍 Unknown → Antot → Damon Prison (Haifa)
‘R. H. (39), married with 3 children and having hypertension, from Beit Lahia. She is now internally displaced in Rafah. The affidavit was given to PCHR’s fieldworker on 01 February 2024 When the war erupted on 07 October 2023, I was in Kamal ‘Odwan Hospital treating my 5-year-old son from asthma. After 3 days and finishing my son’s treatment at the hospital, we left to UNRWA al-Fakhourah School in Jabalia refugee camp that has become a shelter. I stayed at school until it was bombed by IOF, if I am not mistaken in November 2023 (the school was targeted by IOF on 18 November 2023 killing and wounding many.) As a result, my husband’s other wife was killed along with 3 of her children, so fearing for myself and my children, I rushed out to UNRWA Abu Hussein School in Jabalia refugee camp that was later bombed by IOF without a warning. Leaflets were then dropped ordering us to evacuate via the so-called safe corridor to the south ahead of Gaza Valley, so I took my children and left to the south searching for a shelter or a tent to seek refuge in Rafah. On 02 December 2023, when I arrived at the checkpoint which IOF established on Salah al-Deen Road to cross to the safe corridor upon IOF’s instructions, the soldiers called me via the loudspeaker to come. I told them I had my children aged between 5 and 13 years and could not leave them. He told me to let them walk alone and th...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- H.M.
📍 Sand berm/tent → Zikim → Antot Prison → Damon Prison (Haifa)
(H. M.), 24-year-old single woman from northern Gaza, gave her testimony to PCHR on 12 February 2024. On 07 October 2023, when Israel started its war on Gaza, I was so scared of the intense bombing and explosions we were hearing across the city and not knowing where the missiles were falling. At approximately 00:00 on 09 October 2023, I heard a loud and terrifying explosion near our house as the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)’s warplanes targeted without a prior warning my sister’s 5-storey house,. As a result, my 13-year-old niece was killed and her brothers, who were moderately injured, were pulled out of the rubble while my sister’s brother-in-law and two of his children were killed as well. Since the beginning of the Israeli war until 02 December 2023, we stayed in our house not leaving it for 60 days due to the intense bombing pounding our neighborhood. We could hardly get salty water amid no access to potable water and scarcity of food, we could only eat lentils and pasta. We had enough flour to make saj bread and cooked food on fire. We spent most of the time at home and only left when necessary to bring water. In the morning of 03 December 2023, IOF indiscriminately intensified their strikes and fire belts. Their warplanes targeted the nearby residential buildings and entire residential squares, enticing fear among us. At that time, we decided to evacuate to the so...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- S.S.M.
📍 Unknown prison → Unknown prison → Anatot
Date of testimony: 19 May 2025 S.S.M., a 35-year-old woman, originally residing in Gaza City – Al-Rimal neighborhood, is currently forcibly displaced in Gaza City – Al-Azhar camp.1 A year prior to the war’s outbreak, I accompanied my sister-in-law to Nablus, where she was undergoing long-term treatment for bone cancer at Al-Najah Hospital. In January 2024, while returning from Huwara to our residence in Nablus, our vehicle was stopped at an Israeli military checkpoint. Soldiers were conducting arrests of Palestinians from Gaza, demanding identification cards from all passengers. Upon learning I was from Gaza, I was immediately arrested. I was transported to a prison whose location I did not know. Interrogations began immediately, and I was subjected to a barrage of questions. I spent two nights in solitary confinement before being moved to another prison, also of unknown name, where I underwent a new round of questioning and spent an additional night. The following day, the Israeli police handed me and two other women over to the military at a facility called “Anatot.” We left the prison in the early hours of the morning and arrived at the facility around noon. When we were taken off the blue bus, I was still with the two other women. From the moment we were handed over to the military, the soldiers blindfolded us, handcuffed us, and shackled our feet. Before my eyes were ...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- A.N.
📍 Sde Teiman → Damon Prison → Moskobiyeh (Jerusalem)
GAZA, November 23, 2025 (WAFA) – She begins her story with a sentence that feels like a wound: “I was screaming and no one heard me… I begged for death rather than remain bound beneath their hands. What they did to me no human could do, and what I cannot speak of is even worse.” At 42 years old, A.N., a woman from northern Gaza, carries a testimony of torture, sexual violence, and the slow erasure of identity inside Israeli detention facilities. Her ordeal began on October 29, 2024, the day she was forcibly displaced from Beit Lahia, and ended more than a month later with her release—her body bruised, her hair shorn, and her name replaced by a number: 101. What she recounts is, in her words, “another genocide, behind walls.” Dragged into the machinery of abuse From the first checkpoint where Israeli forces erected a military barrier inside Gaza, she was exposed to humiliation: blindfolded, stripped of her hijab, left in the cold on gravel, the only woman among 150 detained men. The next day she and the others were pushed into two transport carriers “unfit for humans.” Soldiers beat them repeatedly and screamed insults—including curses directed at God and Islam—as they were taken to a military point near Sderot. “It was only a stop,” she says, “on the road to much worse.” In Sde Teiman, the now-infamous desert base, she was ordered to strip naked at gunpoint. When she rai...
WAFA Source →
- Ghada al-Nazli
📍 N/A
Ghada al-Nazli (51), resident of Tal al-Hawa in Gaza City, and lawyer at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), gave her testimony to PCHR on 12 March 2024. After Israel had launched its war on Gaza and particularly on 13 October 2023, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) ordered the residents of northern Gaza Strip to evacuate to the south. On 15 October 2023, I evacuated from my house in Tal al-Hawa to my brothers’ apartment in al-Moghraqah area, south of Gaza City. IOF indiscriminately and violently bombed nearby lands, and fearing for my life, I decided to go back home. On 22 October 2023, our neighbors informed us that our residential block near the Force 17 Roundabout and Carefor Mall would be bombed, so I left my house to seek refuge in the nearby Orthodox Cultural Center thinking that it would be safe. We stayed there for a week, waiting for the area to be bombed when suddenly IOF called the Orthodox Cultural Center’s administration ordering them to evacuate because it would be bombed too. At that time, we decided to go back home, and on the night of 29 October 2023, the center was bombed. On 01 November 2023, IOF pounded our area with massive airstrikes known as “fire belts” that started from 20:00 and continued to 22:00. During that time, we were on the stairs, which we thought was the safest place. Windows blown out and glass scattered on us. Due to the h...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- H. GH.
📍 Zikim → barrack → Damon Prison (Haifa)
H. GH. (31), from North Gaza, gave her testimony on 07 February 2024. I lived in a tinplated room in my deceased parents’ house and have 5 siblings. I support my self financially from my father’s salary. In the beginning of Israeli aggression on Gaza on 07 October 2023, the Israeli warplanes started bombing in our area, including houses, enticing fear among us. later, they dropped leaflets to evacuate the area, so my brother, his wife and I left the house at 13:00 on 18 October 2023. We went to al-Fakhourah School and stayed there until mid-November. During that time, the Israeli tanks fired artillery shells at the school while we were inside, so we evacuated to Hafs School in Jabalia refugee camp near Abu Rashed pool. At around 19:00 on 01 December 2023, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) fired white smoke bombs, killing 55-year-old Naderah al-Taweel as her daughter told me that she was beheaded by those bombs and an ambulance arrived half an hour later and took her. They heavily fired those bombs between us, causing smoke plumes. We could not see anything and tents were set on fire at the school. The next day at around 08:00, we walked to Netzarim checkpoint via the so-called “safe corridor.” When we arrived, IOF ordered all those evacuating via loudspeakers to sit on the ground in order to wait for the rest to come. We waited for half an hour and they then order ...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Nadia Nayef Hasan al-Helou
📍 Military site → Antot Prison (Jerusalem) → Damon Prison (Haifa)
Nadia Nayef Hasan al-Helou (44), married with 3 children, resident of al-Sheikh Redwan neighborhood in Gaza City, and now displaced to Rafah, gave her testimony to PCHR on 28 February 2024. I have been married for 14 years to Yehia Mohammed Ibrahim al-Helou, and a mother of 3 children, the eldest is 13-year-old Maria and the youngest is 7-year-old Mohammad. My suffering began on 08 October 2023, day 2 of the Israeli war on Gaza, when the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) bombed my sister’s house in al-Karama area (known as al-Safina) forcing her to evacuate to my house. Since the beginning of the Israeli war, I had received several recorded messages from the IOF on my cell phone warning me to evacuate. Those calls coincided with the bombing of a nearby house, destroying it completely along with other houses adjacent to my house. Fearing for our children, my sister and I decided to leave my house and head to the south of the Gaza Strip, where we got separated. At around 08:00 on Saturday, 11 November 2023, I left my house heading to the south, a safe area as claimed by IOF. I took some clothes and money and got into a cab that drove me to Kuwait roundabout, which is the last area that vehicles coming from northern Gaza Valley could reach as IOF had established a military checkpoint near Gaza Valley. The cab dropped me off Kuwait roundabout and I then walked with my 3 children t...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Raeda Hamdan Rushdi Dughmosh
📍 N/A (not detained)
Raeda Hamdan Rushdi Dughmosh, 33 old, and resident of Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City, gave her testimony to PCHR on 11 January 2024. At approximately 09:00 on Saturday, 09 December 2023, while I was home preparing breakfast in the kitchen, I heard a loud explosion and suddenly the kitchen’s walls collapsed on me. It was pitch-dark and I could not see anything. I screamed out of severe pain and heard my sister’s voice asking me if I was fine. My family hurried to remove the rubble on me and my leg was broken having skin totally ripped. I was severely bleeding and then taken in a civilian car to the Jordanian Hospital in Gaza as my family could not contact an ambulance. At the hospital, doctors tried to put my broken bones back together and place a cast. There was no x-ray imaging, so I was referred to al-Ahly Arab Hospital (known as the Baptist Hospital) to have an x-ray. However, doctors there told me that they have to refer me for treatment to the southern Gaza hospitals, as there were no doctors nor medical equipment in Gaza City to deal with my injury. There was an ambulance waiting for me, so I had to decide quickly whether to stay in Gaza City or go to the south. I had no choice but to go to the south with my sister without having any of my belongings, except my ID card. At 14:00, my sister and I left and there were seven ambulances ahead and two UNRWA vehicles be...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Enas Ahmed Abdel-Fattah Badwan
📍 Zikim → Anatot (Jerusalem) → Damon Prison (Haifa)
Testimony Date: 20 August 2025 I am Enas Ahmed Abdel-Fattah Badwan, 32 years old. I studied Primary Education and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in the field. I lived a normal life with my family in the Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, dreaming—like other young women—of a stable life filled with safety and peace. But the war that erupted after 7 October 2023 completely altered the course of my life. When the Israeli military assault began, just four days of heavy shelling on our area forced my siblings and me to flee our home. We took refuge with the Abu Othman Al-Sarhi family, whom I had met during Umrah in Saudi Arabia. We moved into their house near the Latin Monastery School in Gaza, trying to shield ourselves from the relentless bombardment. On 8 December 2023, Israeli forces invaded the area, surrounding the house for a full week. We lived in continuous terror—artillery shelling all around, heavy machine-gun fire encircling the home, and smoke grenades thrown inside causing suffocation and fainting. We were completely cut off—no communication, no way of knowing if anyone outside even knew we were alive. They were pitch-black days, each moment feeling like death was closing in on us. On the morning of Friday, 15 December 2023, after seven days under siege, we raised white flags, hoping to leave in peace. But as soon as we stepped out, we were all arrested—eight wom...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- N.A.
📍 Unknown (interrogation room, filmed) → transferred (implied Damon Prison from WAFA version)
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) documents one of the most heinous crimes that can be committed against human beings and their dignity in the modern era. In recent weeks, PCHR staff collected new testimonies from a number of Palestinian detainees from the Gaza Strip who were recently released from Israeli prisons and detention camps. These accounts reveal an organized and systematic practice of sexual torture, including rape, forced stripping, forced filming, sexual assault using objects and dogs, in addition to deliberate psychological humiliation aimed at crushing human dignity and erasing individual identity entirely. PCHR affirms that the testimonies do not reflect isolated incidents but constitute a systematic policy practiced in the context of the ongoing crime of genocide against more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including thousands of detainees held in prisons and military camps closed to international monitoring bodies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross. Testimonies documented by PCHR’s lawyers and field researchers contain harrowing testimonies relating to cases of rape perpetrated by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against Palestinian civilians, including women, who were arrested from different areas across the Gaza Strip over the past two years. These testimonies indicate that arrests were carried out without...
PCHR - PALESTINIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHT Source →
- Anonymous
Ibrahim Fuda, A 35-year-old father of two and nurse from Beit Lahiya I lived with my wife Maha, 31, and our two children, Muhammad, 9, and Lama, 7, in al-Qaryah al-Badawiyah (al-Maslakh), an area of the northern Gaza Strip, next to the Hamzah School. I worked as a technical nurse in the operating room at al-Awda Hospital in the Tel a-Za’atar neighborhood of Jabalya. When the war began on 7 October 2023, I continued working at the hospital. The next day, while I was at work, my entire extended family was forced to leave our home. They took some clothes and blankets and moved to Khalifah bin Sayyed School in Beit Lahiya. Whenever there is an escalation, we leave the house. It’s very close to the border, and there are Israeli army positions just one kilometer away. My family stayed in a classroom at Khalifah bin Sayed School for a long time. I couldn’t leave my work at the hospital to join my wife and kids there, and I stayed behind. The hospital was full of wounded and dead people, especially in the first days of the war. More and more injured and killed people were brought in all the time. I had a professional and moral obligation to stay there and treat the wounded, to stand by them. When the military invaded Beit Lahiya, my family was displaced again. This time they went to Jabalya Refugee Camp, to my wife’s parents’ home. They managed to stay there for a long time, until t...
btselem Source →
- Anonymous
Muhammad Abu Tawilah, A 35-year-old father of a baby from Gaza City My wife and I lived in a-Shuja’iyah neighborhood in Gaza City. When the war broke out, we stayed home at first, despite the grave danger and the proximity to the Israeli border. The bombings were very close to us, and the noise was frightening. When things got worse, we left our home. We moved over and over between different parts of Gaza City. We fled bombings, gunfire and repeated military incursions into the eastern part of the city. We eventually reached the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in the western part of the city and settled in a building where there were already between 50 and 60 other displaced people, staying in rough conditions. In March 2024, the Israeli military began an invasion of a-Shifaa Hospital. Tanks and other military vehicles approached our building, and it was under siege for about a week. The soldiers blew up nearby houses, removed displaced people from them, arrested some residents and forced others to move south. On 18 March 2024, after we finished evening prayers, we went down, only the men, to the ground floor of the building. We heard an explosion close to us, and then another explosion. It was the door to the building. Soldiers came into our building. We told them there were women, children and elderly people in the building too. They ordered all men over the age of 16 to s...
btselem Source →
- Anonymous
Muhammad al-Mishwakhi, A 45-year-old father of seven from Rafah Before the war, I had an administrative job in the Palestinian Authority and lived in the Saudi neighborhood in a-Shaburah Refugee Camp in Rafah with my wife and our seven children: Hala, 18, Saleh, 15, Lana, 13, the triplets Yasser ‘Arafat, Amin and Ibrahim, 11, and Muhammad, 2. My family and I have endured every kind of suffering since the war started: hunger, thirst constant fear of bombings. In May 2024, after the ground invasion of Rafah, we were forced to leave our home, and the ordeal of displacement began. We took only essential items and went to live in a tent in the al-Mawasi area in Khan Yunis. The situation there was difficult all the time: there was constant bombing, and we lived in fear every minute. Every day, I stood in long lines to get us water, and day after day, I searched for food to meet at least our basic needs. We lived like that until 30 January 2025, when we heard that people were starting to go back to the Saudi neighborhood in Rafah. We were exhausted from living in a tent in the IDP camp and, even though we knew it would be dangerous, we decided to go back to Rafah, hoping the situation would be slightly better. We moved to the Tal a-Sultan neighborhood. As soon as we arrived, we heard bombings, quadcopters circling above the houses and incessant gunfire. On 23 March 2025, the milita...
btselem Source →
- Anonymous
Mahmoud Jaber, 20, from the Jaber neighborhood in central Hebron, was arrested by soldiers on 16 August 2024 and released after several days of severely abuse I live with my parents and four siblings in a house across from the Ziad Jaber school. I work in agriculture in the al-Baq’ah area, east of Hebron, with my father. Because of the closure the army has been imposing on the area since 7 October, our entire neighborhood is surrounded by concrete blocks and wire fences. This forces us to make long detours to get to work. On Friday, 16 August 2024, I went over to my friend Ahmad, who lives a few meters away from me. We were planning to have a barbeque, and I brought a bag of charcoal and skewers with me. I slept over at his place, and the next morning, around 7:00 A.M., I was woken, along with his family, by loud banging on the door. His father opened up and about 15 soldiers came in. They ordered me and Ahmad’s family to go into one of the rooms, and started searching the house. When they were done, they called me over, demanded my ID card, searched me and took me back to the room. They frisked everyone like that, one after the other. After the body search, the soldiers went out, leaving a big mess behind. They stayed by the house for about 10 minutes, and then came back inside and ordered me to go with them. I obeyed their orders and went outside. They asked me where m...
btselem Source →
- Anonymous
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- Anonymous
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- Anonymous
Khadr Abd al-Al spent what he calls the worst Ramadan of his life inside Sde Teiman prison. No water for ablution. No space to pray. Any movement a guard mistook for worship brought a raid on the entire section. Abd al-Al, a journalist and former prisoner, gave testimony alongside released prisoner Alaa al-Sarraj about conditions during Ramadan inside Israeli detention facilities. Their accounts document a system where religious practice was treated as a disciplinary offense and collective punishment followed any act of worship. At Sde Teiman, prisoners performed tayammum because water was unavailable. Prayer happened through eye movements alone. Prostration, standing, bowing: all forbidden. A single gesture mistaken for prayer was enough to trigger a response. “There is nothing of Ramadan in this prison,” Abd al-Al says. “The only thing available is torture, punishment, and inhumane treatment.” Cameras tracked every movement. Prisoners could not speak to one another. A glance or a hand signal could be classified as a violation and punished. Abd al-Al describes one incident just before the Maghrib call to prayer. He raised his hands slightly. A guard accused him of communicating with the prisoner beside him. He denied it. The punishment came anyway. Collective punishment and police dogs When guards spotted a prisoner performing prayer movements, they called...
- Anonymous
Abdel Aziz Odeh spent two Ramadans inside Israeli occupation prisons. He ate spoiled vegetables for iftar. He broke his fast standing in a prison yard while guards ran a headcount. He used toothpaste as a sweetener at suhoor because sugar was banned from the sections. Now freed, Odeh describes in detail what the holy month looks like from behind bars: systematic humiliation dressed up as routine, starvation passed off as feeding, and the quiet ways prisoners fought to keep Ramadan alive. Silence Where Family Should Be The hardest part was the stillness. Each evening as iftar approached, prisoners sat alone, picturing families gathered at home. The call to prayer sounded. No one was there to share the moment. Many spent entire nights in heavy silence, Odeh says. Grief folded into longing. Minutes stretched into hours of thinking about relatives living Ramadan without them. Food That Wasn’t Food Prison authorities served meals that were often inedible. Odeh describes vegetables pre-cut hours before distribution, left in the sun, exposed to insects. By the time the food reached prisoners, much of it had spoiled. Fasting people depend on two meals: iftar and suhoor. The small, rotten portions fell far short of basic nutrition. Odeh says the way food was handled was not neglect. It was policy. The humiliation was built into the process. Not Knowing When Ramad...
- Anonymous
Palestinian prisoner Muna Abu Hussein from the village of Aboud, northwest of Ramallah, a mother of six, has revealed shocking details about conditions for female prisoners inside Damon Prison, confirming an escalation of repression and restrictions against them. “Today we were repressed” In a message relayed from inside the prison, Abu Hussein described a raid carried out by prison units: “Today we were repressed. The guards screamed: everyone on the ground. They cuffed our hands behind our backs and shoved us outside. They forced us to kneel in the yard, raided the rooms, and confiscated all clothing except what we were wearing. They gassed Room 4, screaming and cursing the whole time.” Her testimony documents the use of force during the raid, the binding and forced kneeling of prisoners in the prison yard, the searching of rooms, and the confiscation of personal belongings, including clothing. Nighttime arrest and solitary confinement in al-Moskobiyya Abu Hussein was arrested at dawn on January 7, 2026, after a military force stormed her home. She was blindfolded and taken to a nearby military camp before being transferred to al-Moskobiyya interrogation center. She spent 23 days in complete solitary confinement under conditions she described as brutal: total isolation from the outside world, severe cold, a ban on speaking to anyone, and repeated degrading s...
- Anonymous
With a body ravaged by hunger and a soul that witnessed death daily, journalist Samer Khweira emerged from Nablus after nine months of administrative detention to issue a cry that shook consciences: “The prisoners are dead, forgotten… no one can comprehend the reality of prison unless they have lived it.” These words were not merely an account of a passing detention experience, but rather a living testimony to the most brutal phase in the history of the prisoner movement, the period following the seventh of October, when prisons were transformed into open spaces for repression, humiliation, and systematic starvation. Samer, who was arrested on the tenth of April of last year, did not leave prison as he had entered it. He emerged as a witness to a phase in which detention facilities became open arenas for repression, humiliation, and systematic starvation, where not even the minimum standards of humanity exist. He states that what he experienced inside prison cannot be described in words, “because only God knows the true extent of the degradation.” With this phrase, he summarizes a daily reality of beatings, humiliation, and relentless oppression, where time loses all meaning, a single hour in this hell equals thirty years, because the place itself is a state of continuous madness, founded upon repression, beatings, degradation, and abuse. Samer recounts that the prisoners...
- Anonymous
Israeli soldiers stormed Samah Hajawi’s family home at two o’clock in the morning, assaulting family members and ransacking the house before taking her into custody. Days later, she has given her first account of what followed. Hajawi described the raid as brutal. Speaking through a lawyer from the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, she said soldiers bound her hands and moved her between multiple interrogation centers under conditions designed to exhaust her. She was subjected to intrusive and degrading body searches from the moment of her arrest, practices she said are part of a deliberate strategy to break female prisoners psychologically and physically. The Commission released her account on Monday, calling on international human rights organizations to intervene. Hajawi’s case reflects broader patterns the Commission has documented among female Palestinian prisoners. Women in Israeli detention face violent nighttime raids and invasive cell searches. Authorities confiscate personal items and block families from sending clothing and basic necessities. Cells are severely overcrowded, sanitation is inadequate, and medical care is either denied outright or delayed until conditions worsen. Female prisoners are also held in solitary confinement and subjected to prolonged interrogation sessions the Commission describes as punitive measures intended to bre...
- Anonymous
multiple testimonies
- S.J.
📍 Rakefet section, Nitsan-Ramle Prison (also held at Sde Teiman military detention camp, Asqalan/Ashkelon Prison, Maskobiya detention center Jerusalem, Ofer Prison)
"I was arrested in December 2023 and was immediately transferred to interrogation, which lasted for six days. These were some of the most intense and difficult days. I was subjected to what is called the 'disco' and 'diaper' interrogation methods. Throughout the six days, I was exposed to nothing but extremely loud music. I was forced to use diapers to relieve myself, and they were only changed twice. I was deprived of food and provided with very little water—half a glass a day. I was handcuffed and blindfolded during the entire interrogation, Later, I was transferred from the Sde Teiman military detention camp to Asqalan (Ashkelon) Prison, where I was held for 45 days. I was then moved to the Maskobiya detention center in Jerusalem for 85 days, followed by Ofer Prison, and finally to the Rakefet section of the Nitzan–Ramla Prison."
Commission of Detainees' Affairs & Palestinian Prisoner's Society (published by Samidoun) Source →
- Khalida Jarrar
📍 Hadarim prison (initially held at Ofer detention center)
"For more than 9 years, as an elected member by the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation, in the Palestinian Legislative Council I have served as President of the Commission, in charge of the issue of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. I have continuously spoken about the cause of the Palestinian prisoners, their numbers, their conditions of detention. I have devoted the last 20 years of my life in support of the Palestinian prisoners. Today I confirm to you I have not changed: my stance, my beliefs and my will remain intact. Today, I'm part of the 24 female prisoners that I mentioned earlier, the 6000 prisoners. Today, after being arrested in my house, in front of my family and of my husband, I took something from my people, by depriving them of my duty to serve them. I do not know if I'll find a doctor worthy of his title once sick, I do not know if the food they give me is poisoned or if the water is polluted. I do not know when I will be able to take my little girls, Yafa and Suha, in my arms, nor when I will kiss my husband again. All I know is that, in order to obtain all this, I need you, every free voice in the world."
Samidoun (Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network) Source →
- Imad Ahmad Barghouthi
📍 Ofer Israeli prison camp
Ofer Israeli prison camp, Saturday September 12th, 2020 On my current administrative detention Dear colleagues, I'm writing this letter as I await the Israeli military occupation court to review the Israeli military commander's decision to put me under administrative detention for four months. This order overruled a court decision to release me on bail, while I await yet another trial for exercising my internationally protected right of expressing my opinion on my social media. And my next appearance before the military judge/court will be a closed session, showing that even Israeli authorities are ashamed of these proceedings. For those of you who don't know about administrative detention, it has been a central practice of the Israeli occupation since the early days of the British mandate, over seventy years ago; administrative detention allows for a military commander to order your arrest based on secret reports and without trial. The administrative detention can last up to six months, but can be renewed indefinitely. This practice systematically abuses Palestinian human rights and is designed to subjugate the Palestinian people and deny their freedom. In the israeli military courts it doesn't matter that I'm a professor of space physics, (e.g. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Uevcf_gAAAAJ&hl=), nor it matters that I'm 50 years old, father of five and grandfathe...
Samidoun (Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network) Source →
- Bilal Kayed
My beloved father, my beloved mother, my beloved MiMi, my beloved sisters and brothers, Greetings, my beloved ones. Here I am writing to you my letter, that I am writing with my own flesh, blood, hunger and pain, on my 24th day of hunger strike, in which I have nothing but my steadfastness and patience to recall your images which give me strength. And I bite on my pain, that is trying to infiltrate my humble and rebellious soul, to resist its torture that is trying to force it to submit – and it never will. My faithful ones, words are running away from me. Despite my utmost longing to see you, I return every time determined to write to you despite my weakness that has reached a great deal of pain and sorrow. But as you have taught me, particularly you, my dearest father, the pain of the body, is sweet in comparison to the pain of the soul. My patience has run away, against their attempts to humiliate me, and to humiliate you because of me. My patience has run away with their humiliation of the symbols of my people (leaders of the prisoners). Depriving prisoners from seeing their families, my patience has run away because I cannot see you, my beloved amazing and solid father. That is why I tolerate my pain and my death in order to protect your dignity and mine. Forgive me, my beloved ones. I do not have strength to continue this letter, because of exhaustion. I hope you will...
Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network Source →
- Hassan Karajah
📍 Beersheba (Be'er Sheva) Prison
To all of my friends everywhere in the world….to each person in solidarity… to all who care about the cause of prisoners…to all who believe in the justice of our cause, Palestine, who cherish peace, love, the steadfastness of the prisoners, and the sweet scent of freedom, I say: "The wheat, when it is spread on the land, some will be crushed by feet and die, some will be eaten by birds, and some makes it to the earth, and then rain comes, and with the first appearance of the sun, the wheat comes as a positive omen of the continuation of life." Dear all, know that I miss you and I'm eager to see you all. What prevents me from this is the Zionist occupation's detention, which it uses against me as it did against the sons and daughters of our people 65 years ago. However, if this is for the freedom of Palestine, our land and our rights, I am prepared to bear this, and I am sure that you are willing to continue in the same way. In these moments, when I am writing to you and imagine all of your souls around me as my soul greets you, I do not exclude any of you. I cannot say each of your names for one reason – we have a shortage of stationery in the prisons, such as pens and paper. By these shortages, the prison administration intends to besiege the prisoners and deprive us of education. You know that this is a drop in the sea in terms of the practices of oppressing us and attempt...
- Hassan Safadi
📍 Israeli administrative detention
In the name of God, the most merciful… At this time of victory, wrenched from body and spirit through hunger, among heroic colleagues who shared commitment, steadfastness and pride in the battle for freedom and dignity, I extend my salute and appreciation to the Palestinian people, free and proud. I held first to my promise, pledged my soul to God and relied on God in struggle, convinced that the very foundation of my arrest is unjust and void, and that the policy of administrative detention must stop, it is a guillotine on the necks of thousands of prisoners. [The prisoners' battle is not over], citing continued strikes by other detainees against arbitrary detention policies and ongoing conditions of medical negligence, and assaults. [The outcome was] a triumph over darkness and the oppressors, and a triumph of freedom. Greetings to my ill mother, my steadfast and patient mother who has been a constant source of patience, strength and determination, and to the memory of my brother, the martyr Fareed, and all of the martyrs who have come before us on the road to freedom and justice.
Samidoun (Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network) Source →
- Ahmad Sa'adat
📍 Ramon Prison
Dear comrade, I send my warm greetings to you, with the most beautiful words and sincere declarations of pride, respect and appreciation, in my name and in the name of my comrades in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine prison organization. These sincere words reflect our unity of thought and common suffering in the face of the tools of oppression and our common struggle for a better world in which the people regain their stolen humanity. Dear comrade, I feel pain when you feel pain, and you are always a source of great pride and respect. From your principled steadfastness through decades in prison, we build our determination, our will and our intellectual conviction; from your head held high, always accelerating our steps to become nearer to the sun of truth and liberation, with you, by you, and with all of the forces of freedom in the world. Together, our strength is multiplied dozens of times, renewed in our hope and confidence in the inevitability of victory, the victory of daybreak over the night, the truth over lies and hypocrisy. You are a living witness to the falsity of the claims about the "free world," "democracy," "separation of powers" and "independence of the judiciary" of which the ruling class brags in media forums and lecture halls. We are chained by the common injustices manufactured in the United States of America, which are the same ones used...
Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network Source →
- Leena Jawabreh
The dark Israeli interrogation cells are referred to, by Palestinian prisoners, as the "graves of the living underground." In these cells prisoners are shackled and held in painful stress positions, deprived of sleep, denied access to basic hygiene, and threatened — including with threats against their family members. ... A sick prisoner is denied proper treatment and hospitalization. Instead, she is given only painkillers and water to treat her pain, illness or disease; medical files are concealed from the prisoners. ... Visits are banned or restricted as a means of psychological coercion. Prisoners are regularly subject to strip searches by jailers when they are being visited, or when they are going to court, and a glass wall separates the prisoner from her family members. ... The cells are very small and house six prisoners or more. Sun and air does not enter the rooms, which are very humid, particularly in summer and often infested with rats and stinging or biting insects. ... Prisoners are transported in a vehicle called the "Bosta." It is in fact a mobile cell with a metal chair. It can barely accommodate one person in a sitting position, and the windows are blacked out; prisoners are chained and subjected to verbal abuse by the guards. ... We, women Palestinian prisoners, call on the international community to recognize our rights under the Geneva Conventions and to work...
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network Source →
- Walid Daqqa (Daqqah)
📍 Israeli prison
From "A Place Without a Door": "I avoided using the word 'prison.' I feared that it might be too much for her at her tender age." His daughter described prison as: "No, you don't have a door." "From the earliest moments of their lives our children come to understand the reality of walls, barriers and checkpoints. They do so long before they are introduced to the word 'occupation.'" From "Uncle, Give Me a Cigarette": "It is morning and I hear the jangling of two sets of handcuffs as the prison guard approaches us. He throws them to the ground, clanging against the concrete floor." A 12-year-old child prisoner asked: "Uncle, give me a cigarette." "The craving is not for the rush of nicotine but for what the cigarette connotes. Frightened, a mere child in the harsh world of the prison, he wanted to become a man quickly." "It was the first time during my 26 years of imprisonment that I have met someone speaking to me across such a distance of age." "I wanted with every strain of my being to hug him and as these paternal feelings surged through me, I felt an overwhelming desire to cry. But I hid my feelings."
Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) Source →
- I.W. (initials changed for security)
📍 Nazareth police station; Ofer Prison
Our housing was raided by a group wearing olive-colored military uniforms. They were masked, armed, and there were about 15 of them. After opening the door, they stormed in. We told them, 'We are workers and we have permits,' but they forced us to the ground and began beating us with rifles, kicks, fists, and stomping on our heads with their boots. They concentrated the blows on my chest, and I felt afterwards that I had fractures in my chest because it became difficult to breathe. They focused on the head and chest, spitting on us and cursing us with extremely obscene insults. They stayed in the housing for about an hour, searching and vandalizing the place, destroying and breaking things, while continuing to beat us the entire time. Afterwards, they blindfolded us. They put a scarf they found in the housing over my whole head, making it hard to breathe, and since I have heart problems, I asked them to remove it. They refused, and one of them put a weapon to my head and threatened to kill me. They arrested me in a shabeh position (stress position) and without shoes (I remained for 20 days like this without clothes or shoes). Then we were transferred to the police station in Nazareth, where they threw us into a room and continued the assault while our hands were bound behind our backs with plastic ties. They used every tool to beat us. I was blindfolded so I could not recognize...
Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association Source →
- Firas
📍 Sde Teiman
During my detention in Sde Teiman, they called me and two other detainees I did not know and took us to a concrete courtyard. They removed our blindfolds, took one detainee, stripped him of his clothes, and brought in a huge dog that raped him in front of us. The dog appeared to have been trained to do so. The young man screamed loudly for two minutes, after which they took the other detainee and me to another location. I do not know what happened to the detainee who was raped.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor Source →
- Wajdi (pseudonym)
"During interrogation, they tied me naked to a metal bed, and one of the soldiers asked me how many Israeli women I had raped in Israel. I denied that I had even entered Israel. Then a soldier raped me. I felt severe pain in my anus and screamed, but every time I screamed, I was beaten. This continued for several minutes, while soldiers filmed and mocked me. The soldier left after ejaculating inside me. I was left in a humiliating position. I wished for death. I was bleeding. Later, they untied me and brought a dog, which also raped me. On the same day, I was raped at least twice more after being tied to the bed. One of the soldiers put his penis in my mouth and then urinated on me. The rape was repeated two days later by three soldiers. I was in very poor physical and mental health."
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor Source →
- "S.D." (anonymous)
📍 Israel's Zikim base; Anatot detention facility (near Jerusalem); Damon Prison
"The conditions of detention were extremely harsh; I strained a muscle in my handcuffed hand and an Israeli female soldier struck me hard on my back when I attempted to move," S.D. told Euro-Med Monitor. "After that, we were transported by truck to a detention facility called Anatot in a mountainous area close to Jerusalem. There, the temperature was very low and we suffered from the freezing weather." She elaborated on being verbally harassed by Israeli soldiers: "We were left on a sidewalk for approximately an hour before being given gray prison clothes. We were then made to walk in a line while being teased and humiliated. Afterward, we were taken to a location that resembled a hellish cage, where we were deprived of basic necessities like food and toilets." During those days, no food was served except milk, which detainees shared between themselves. "We were subjected to nasty verbal abuse and foul language, and we were only allowed to use sanitary pads in extremely small amounts-not enough for even a single day-and bathe infrequently," she stated. "The soldiers were harassing us, keeping us outside in the rain, and preventing us from praying," she continued. She further reported that after eight days, she was moved to Damon Prison-after being attacked multiple times by female soldiers. "One of the female soldiers took the blindfold off my eyes and asked me to kiss the I...
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor Source →
- Mustafa (pseudonym)
📍 Sde Teiman (15 days), then Megiddo prison (approx. 13 months)
"Since my release, I have been waking up in a state of fear every single day, haunted by memories of headcounts. Nightmares plague my sleep, and I find myself running at night to count, a reflex from the countless times I stood in line for headcounts during my detention. Being late meant punishment, and that fear lingers. To this day, restful sleep eludes me. During the day, I sometimes find myself involuntarily kneeling, a habit my parents have noticed, though I often remain unaware of. I continue to struggle with insomnia and skin issues, including scabies and other ailments I contracted while detained. The soldiers subjected me and the other detainees to brutal beatings, causing blood to stream from my nose as they struck me with metal objects on my head and face, leaving my eyes swollen. Once we were forced to the ground, handcuffed and blindfolded, kneeling in submission, they unleashed dogs upon us and revved up a tank that charged toward me, halting just a meter away. At that moment, I recited the shahada repeatedly, fearing I might be crushed beneath the tank's tracks. The soldiers found amusement in our plight. Food was scarce, and we were strictly prohibited from removing our blindfolds or shackles. Those who dared to disobey faced severe beatings from the soldiers. Eventually, a soldier handed me a single piece of greenish bread covered with mold, clearly old and u...
Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP) Source →
- Wesam and Rami (pseudonyms)
📍 Freedom Theater area, Jenin refugee camp (house converted into a military base)
Wesam (17): "Having missed him and my other childhood friends and classmates, I had lost contact with them due to our displacement. I decided to go after Rami's call to join him. When I arrived at his house around 9 p.m., Rami and four other friends were there as well. We spent a long time together, sharing stories and reminiscing about our past." "They menacingly brandished their weapons towards us, shouting and commanding us to get off our motorcycles, take off all our clothes except for the underwear, and remain exposed. We had no choice but to comply." "During the assault, another soldier came up to us with a cigarette lighter, dragging it forcefully across our backs and shoulders until it ignited, causing unbearable pain and leaving scars that are still visible today." "The soldiers bound our hands behind our backs with plastic zip ties and blindfolded us with strips of cloth. They then forced us into the military vehicle and transported us to the Freedom Theater area in Jenin camp. They guided us to the top of a staircase in one of the nearby houses, and from under the blindfold, I observed the soldiers bringing in three large fans. They positioned them about a meter away from where we were seated on the ground." "We trembled from the cold and fear as they drenched us with soft and alcoholic drinks, recognizable by their scent, soaking us completely." "In the morning...
Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP) Source →
- Loai
"We weren't told anything about how to keep ourselves safe from coronavirus, such as how it's important to wash our hands." "Throughout (my detention), the prison guards disinfected the facilities twice only...They did not disinfect our cells, not even once. They gave us a bottle of disinfectant that lasted about 15 days, and they never gave us more after it ran out."
Save the Children International Source →
- Khalil
"I had an injury in my leg, I had a cast, and had to crawl to be able to move. I felt my body being torn apart. I had no canes to help me walk, I kept asking soldiers for help during the transfer, but no one helped me." [...] "The soldier threatened to kill me when he arrested me for the second time. He asked me, 'Do you want the same fate as your cousin?' as he had been killed. He promised me that I would have the same fate and die, but that he would send me to prison first. He told me that he's coming back for me – and every day, I wait for that day to come."
Save the Children Source →
- Issa
📍 Two interrogation centres, then prison (facility not named)
"I was arrested at the end of the school day when there were clashes outside the school gates. I tried to walk through the clashes quickly, but I was shot in my right leg by a soldier. It hurt so much that I collapsed to the ground. Three soldiers came over and started beating me while I was on the ground bleeding. Paramedics tried to reach me to take me to hospital in an ambulance, but the soldiers wouldn't let them. "I was taken to an interrogation centre instead of hospital, but the soldiers did give me some medical care by wrapping my leg up in a bandage. They then blindfolded me, tied my hands together with plastic cable ties and took me to a second interrogation centre. I was so confused and didn't know where I was being taken. I asked to speak to my parents and to have legal advice as I know my rights — but again, they said no. "While I was being interrogated, they kept shouting at me, and they put a gun on the table in front of me to intimidate me. They said bad, bad words. I don't want to think about those words. "When I refused to confess, they stopped the interrogation. They took me to a detention cell and chained me to a metal chair by my wrists and ankles. They made me take all my clothes off first, and it was December, so I was freezing cold. "The next day they interrogated me again. I kept saying that I have rights and that I needed treatment. "They asked me to s...
Save the Children Source →
- Saeda al-Shrafi
📍 Damon prison; Dimona prison (Negev desert); Beersheba facility
"My one-year-old son, Adam, clung to my clothes in terror until I was forced to hand him to Youssef." "They told me to take off my clothes, threw me to the ground, blindfolded me and beat me." "The soldiers told me my children were in their custody and would only be released if I answered their questions." "I felt extreme fear, started trembling, and lost control of myself." "Some returned silent, unable to speak from fear; others were moved to solitary confinement." "I was about to lose my mind." "She asked me about my children. I told her they were killed." "You are in Dimona. You are in hell." "They didn't order us to move. They moved us by beating us and pulling our hair. I thought I might die under the torture." "It was unbearable." "A 24-year-old pregnant detainee from Gaza miscarried in the cell toilet. She was in severe mental distress after soldiers told her they had killed her husband." "She needed medical attention, but no one in the prison cared for her. Only we, the Palestinian detainees, tried to help." "The soldiers sometimes said we would be released, then took it back. It was just another way to break us." "We were kept blindfolded and made to sit on the ground in a prostration position." "I think about the prisoners every day." "When I came home, my youngest son, Adam, didn't recognise me. He was afraid of me." "Palestinian prisoners live in a dark world of to...
Middle East Eye Source →
- Ibrahim Salem
📍 Sde Teiman (52 days); also Negev desert detention center and Ofer prison, occupied West Bank
"When the army came in, they asked for all the men to go down to the square." [Asked "What are you doing here?", Salem replied:] "Those are my children; they cannot move in the ICU." "Of course, your hands are tied behind your back, your legs are also tied and you are blindfolded." [On Sde Teiman:] "It was the worst nightmare." "Anyone who moves in a certain way gets punished. If you ask to go to the bathroom, you get punished." [Forced to repeat:] "I am the son of a whore, I am the brother of a whore." [Soldiers told him:] "We will play football with your heads in Gaza." [On beatings:] "While I was tied and handcuffed, he slammed a chair [on me] and it broke on my chest." [On electrocution:] "I noticed that he was glueing something on me. Then I started shaking. He was electrocuting me." "He electrocuted me in sensitive spots and hit me in these spots." [On sexual abuse and humiliation:] "Nothing was more humiliating than when they made me take off my clothes, or when they inserted this object into my butt, or when a young female soldier kept [touching my penis]." [On release, soldiers told him:] "The war will not end until we kill you all." "It is good that people saw the reality of the occupation and I insist on exposing the occupation."
Middle East Eye Source →
- Mahmoud Ismail Abukhater
📍 Sde Teiman military detention camp; Ofer Prison; Negev Prison
"They treated us like animals, not humans." "Our hands and feet were shackled, and they struck us with frozen water bottles." "The soldiers urinated in a container and then poured it over our faces and bodies." "It's a torture camp for men." "They forced us to sit from dawn until midnight without moving." "They would place a detainee in a shroud connected to a hose with a small camera inside, bury him in a pit." "The officers didn't provide him with any medical assistance and eventually worms began emerging from his wounds." "When he entered the prison, he weighed about 120 kilograms, but by his final days, he was down to just 50 kilograms." "They started giving us cooked food and cheese, acting like they were treating us well." "On the morning of our release, [Israeli officers] handed us shirts with the statement 'We will never forget, and we will never forgive'."
Middle East Eye Source →
- Basim Khandakji
📍 Multiple Israeli detention facilities (held in solitary confinement and moved between Israel's 19 Palestinian detention facilities; references al-Jalama detention centre)
"I still feel like I'm dreaming, and I'm terrified I might wake up and find myself back in a cell." On Israeli prisons being "the cemetery of the living." On his forced confession: "The lawyer told me I had to sign a confession … so that three young men could be spared life sentences. There was a kind of quid pro quo: You admit to a particular charge in exchange for getting some younger men out of life sentences, and that is what happened." "There are deliberate policies of starvation, abuse, psychological and physical torture, constant humiliation, and intentional medical neglect." "The main strategy authorities used to break prisoners was starvation." On "cooling", meaning denial of clothing, blankets, or any heating during bitter winter. "They use horrifying, savage methods – targeting the head, neck, and spine." "I was deprived of my father while he was alive, and after his death I was denied the chance to bury him." "Writing gave me … a refuge, a hiding place through which I could escape the brutality of the jail and reclaim my freedom, even if only in my imagination." "Being deprived of my pens and notebooks felt like being deprived of air." "I live with sorrow and pain because I left behind so many friends in prison, still suffering." "Marwan Barghouthi is a great man." "In the end, violence in all its forms is inhuman." "But if time could go back… I might l...
Al Jazeera Source →
- Mohammad Salhab al-Tamimi
📍 Rimon Prison; transferred to Ofer Prison
"I put my clothes in one of those plastic envelopes and walked to the cell door where they cuffed my hands and forced my head down so I was looking at the ground. The officer then kicked me, hard. His boots have steel in them, so it felt like he crushed my feet, it really hurt. He dragged me to the prison yard but, as he was dragging me out of the prison, he stopped to take my clothes from me and threw them into a garbage pail. Then, cursing me with obscene language, he dragged me out. 'Tell your friends [they said]'… If we have a big celebration, I will return to prison. I was kept in the vehicle cell without anything to eat or drink until after midnight. There were 10 prisoners shoved into cells that only had six beds. We used to have to spread blankets or something on the floor to sleep. The [Israeli] occupation had pretty much decided that they would humiliate the prisoners, ever since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa Storm. I used to love making the call to prayer from inside my cell so the whole section could hear, but that too was forbidden. It felt like they didn't want us to even breathe."
Al Jazeera Source →
- Rami
📍 Ofer Camp (Ofer Military Detention Facility), occupied West Bank (between Jerusalem and Ramallah); previously held at Sde Teiman
"I thought I was being returned to Gaza, but I found myself in another prison." [...] "I was severely tortured. We were forced to kneel with our hands tied from sunrise until midnight. Guards beat us on every part of our bodies. I was given electric shocks every two days." [...] "All detainees at Ofer were tortured, beaten, and humiliated. We [all] received food only once a day."
+972 Magazine (in partnership with Local Call) Source →
- Lama Khater
📍 HaSharon Prison, then Al-Damon (Damoun) Women's Prison
"I could not have imagined the severity of the situation. I was taken to a military vehicle where I was forced to lie down on the floor, handcuffed and blindfolded. Soldiers sat next to me until we reached a location unknown to me. "I was brought into a room. I could see with limited visibility beneath the blindfold. I asked to go to the toilet and drink water, but the female soldier refused. They claimed not to understand Arabic; I tried English, but to no avail. After an hour of detention, I was allowed to use the restroom and drank water from the tap there. The female soldier refused to allow me to close the toilet door completely." [On the interrogation, she recalled the interrogator] "asked me my opinion about the rape of a 10-year-old [Israeli] girl. I stated that I didn't know anything about this. The interrogator yelled at me and insulted me using offensive language. He then said: 'You should know that there are 20 soldiers in this room — I will ask them to rape you right here.'" "He said: 'The girl who was raped looks like your daughter Yaman, and we could bring Yaman there and be raped, and I could go to your house and burn your children down while they sleep. Here there are no laws or rights. You are a prisoner of war, and I hope that a government will come that will allow us to do what we want with you [Palestinians].'" "Another female detainee and I underwent a...
+972 Magazine Source →
- Ali Al-Samoudi
📍 Megiddo Prison and Ofer Prison (transferred between multiple facilities); initially held blindfolded and handcuffed for 80 hours in Jenin refugee camp
They came to my home in the early morning hours. When they entered, my daughter and daughter-in-law were crying. The Israeli military officer instructed me, "Tell them I only want you for a three or four-hour trip and then you'll return home." I had no idea that trip would last a year. The soldiers took me to the refugee camp, where they kept me blindfolded and handcuffed for 80 hours. They threw me in front of military barracks, which were actually Palestinian homes inside the camp. Whenever soldiers entered or left, they would beat me all over my body. I was not allowed any food or water during that entire period. Throughout the nights, I suffered severe pain from the cold. I told them I needed my medication because I have diabetes and high blood pressure, but they ignored me and did not bring any of my medicine. During interrogation, they told me there were three suspicions against me — not even charges. The first two appeared to be related to my journalistic work and field coverage. They considered covering events on the ground as serving what they called "subversive organizations." Another suspicion was based on their allegation that a Palestinian detainee said that I had photographed him while he was firing at an Israeli settlement. During my detention, I received direct threats over the phone from a Shin Bet officer. The officer told me: "You've exhausted us. I want ...
- Anonymous
One of the Israeli officers who came, approached me and kicked me on my left side, then jumped on my head with his two legs pushing my face further into the dirt and then continued kicking me as I was head down, into the dirt, with my hands tied behind my back. He then got a knife and tore all of my clothes off except for my underwear and used part of my torn clothes to blindfold me. The beating to the rest of my body did not stop, at one point he started jumping on my back – three or four times – while yelling 'die, die you trash' … in the end before this finally stopped, another officer urinated on my face and body while also yelling at us 'to die'.
Amnesty International Source →
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