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.
Two other soldiers lifted me up and then kicked me hard in the knees. They kept on hitting me again and again, which hurt badly. Every time they hit me, I fell on the floor, and then they immediately stood me up again
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 my phone was, and I said it was charging at Ahmad’s house, so they sent me to get it. When I came back, they led me to the Jaber 2 checkpoint, where they tied my hands behind my back with zip ties and made me sit next to some concrete blocks. They started looking through my phone, and then they covered my head with a shirt that one of them took from my friend’s house, and put me in a military jeep along with several soldiers.
The jeep drove for about five minutes. When we stopped, the soldiers got me out of the jeep and forced me to kneel on some kind of rough floor. My face was covered, but I felt that I was in a closed room. They started hitting me and kicking me hard in the face, shoulder and back, while cursing me and saying, “motherfucker, asshole.”
At some point, one of the soldiers ordered me to stand up. Two other soldiers lifted me up and then kicked me hard in the knees. They kept on hitting me again and again, which hurt badly. Every time they hit me, I fell on the floor, and then they immediately stood me up again. After a long time of nonstop beating, I felt that I couldn’t move anymore. The soldiers swore at me again, cursed Islam and accused me of belonging to Hamas. They forced me to stand up again, and this time made me walk a few meters. One of the soldiers pushed me and slammed my face into a concrete wall. He did that three times in a row. I screamed in pain and felt very dizzy.
After about an hour, the soldiers led me to a staircase. I refused to go down the stairs, and two soldiers pushed me. I tumbled all the way down the stairs and lay there at the bottom, unable to move because of all the beating I got. Two soldiers forced me up and made me walk about 50 meters to a military jeep. After we waited 10 minutes, they put me in the jeep and we drove off. The whole drive, which took about 20 minutes, the soldiers cursed me, my mother and my sisters.
When we stopped, the soldiers took me out of the jeep and left me standing in the sun for about half an hour. I asked them for something to drink, but they didn’t respond. A few minutes later, they led me to a room and took off my blindfold. There was a military doctor sitting in the room. He gave me water and checked my blood pressure. I told him the soldiers beat me, and that I have “platinum” (metal implants) in my mouth and right knee because of an old accident. I told him my leg badly from the beating, but he didn’t respond.
One of the soldiers pushed me and my back hit a hard, sharp object. It hurt a lot, and I let out a scream. The soldiers laughed. I heard the sound of laughter on a cell phone and figured they were filming me and sharing it with friends
The soldiers put me back in the jeep. After a few minutes of driving, they took me out and led me a few meters to some iron stairs. We went up the stairs and into a room with a metal floor. They forced me to get down on my knees and started banging hard on the floor with clubs. It was very loud and terrified me. The soldiers kicked me and hit me on the legs and hands with the clubs. The blows were so strong and painful that I lost my balance and couldn’t stay on my knees. I tried to ease the pain a bit by sitting down, so I stretched my legs out. When I did that, several soldiers kicked hard in my knees and thighs hard and trod on my feet. I screamed in pain, and the soldiers continued hitting me, swearing at me, saying: “You’re Hamas. You’re a terrorist.”
I stayed in the room for about an hour, until the soldiers took me down the iron stairs and into a military jeep. We drove for about 10 minutes, and on the way they punched me, kicked me, slapped me and swore at me. At the end of the ride, they let me out in the middle of a yard. When we got there, I heard the noon prayers in the background. They made me walk until we got to a room, where they made me kneel again. One of the soldiers pushed me and my back hit a hard, sharp object. It hurt a lot, and I let out a scream. The soldiers laughed. I heard the sound of laughter on a cell phone and figured they were filming me and sharing it with friends.
The soldiers continued hitting me on the back, legs and hands. I asked them for a drink and also to let me see a doctor, but they ignored me. I screamed in pain again and explained to them that I’d had knee surgery. That made them hit me there even harder. Every time I screamed, the soldiers said, “Shut up, you asshole, you son of a bitch,” and beat me again.
Pretty soon, I couldn’t kneel anymore and tipped over on my side. One of the soldiers came over and propped me back up on my knees, screaming at me in Hebrew. I didn’t understand what he was saying. The shirt was covering my whole head, including my nose and mouth, and I could hardly breathe. One of the soldiers brought me water and gave me a little to drink. I kept on screaming because of the pain in my leg. The soldier picked me up and sat me by the door to the room, where the soldiers walked back and forth, stepping on me and beating me on the way, sometimes with clubs. I asked them: “Why are you doing this?”, and they responded with laughter and contempt.
The soldiers walked back and forth, stepping on me and beating me on the way, sometimes with clubs. I asked them: “Why are you doing this?”, and they responded with laughter and contempt
I stayed in the same place for about an hour or more, until some soldiers took me outside and led me to a military jeep. On the way to the jeep, I couldn’t walk anymore, but the soldiers pushed me forcefully while still beating me. They put me in the jeep and during the ride, which lasted several minutes, they continued to curse and hit me.
When we arrived, the soldiers pushed me out of the jeep and I fell on the ground. They forced me up again, and we walked about 10 meters until we reached another room. The soldiers surrounded me and made me kneel again. They kicked me in the head, punched and slapped me, and hit me in the belly and back. Some of them focused on hitting my right knee. At that point, I was already screaming very loudly in pain, but my screams didn’t help.
After a few minutes, the soldiers left. They came back after a short time and continued to beat me. They came and went several times. One time, they played with a ball and hit me on the head with it, and with a ball-shaped object that made a gun-like sound. It was made of hard plastic, and they hit me with it all over my body, including my right knee. They also threw trash and empty bottles that were in the room at me. I can’t say how long I stayed in that room, but at some point, I felt it get cold and realized the sun had set. I remember losing balance, and I also tried to sleep a bit so I wouldn’t feel the pain, but one of the soldiers immediately hit me. I was scared and very nervous, and tried as best I could to protect my knee so they wouldn’t injure it again.
At one point, the soldiers gathered, put on some music and started dancing in the room. Then they took me out of the room and told me to walk, while pushing me to make fall. I didn’t know where I was going and felt that I was stepping on stones and thorns. When we got to the military jeep, one of the soldiers gave me a push and I crashed into an iron gate. The soldier started yelling at me to get into the jeep, but I couldn’t. I was in a lot of pain. The soldiers forced me up, and we started driving. We drove for a long time, and at one point, I managed to lift the head covering a little and saw that we were reaching the entrance to the Gush Etzion settlement, south of the city of Bethlehem.
When the jeep stopped, the soldiers forced me out and I fell on the ground. I felt there was a large military presence around me. The soldiers forced me to kneel again. I screamed because of the pain in my right knee. The soldiers hit me hard, and I fell on my side. I lay on the ground, and one of them continued to kick and hit me. Then he ordered me to get up, but I couldn’t. He hit me again and pulled me up by the shirt. Later, the soldiers made me kneel again, this time on gravel.
After a few moments, the soldier grabbed me by the nape of my neck and forced me to stand up again. He led me a few meters while pushing my head, and from time to time, he and the other soldiers stopped me and beat me on the head and back. I remember my hands hurting a lot.
One of the soldiers brought a metal detector and ran it over my body. When he got to the right knee, the device beeped because of the platinum, and he used it to hit me on the knee
We got to a room and the soldier who was leading me pushed me into a corner, where he hit me all over my body. There were several soldiers in the room laughing. He punched and slapped me, and I started to feel dizzy. Then, someone asked me in Arabic what my name was and why I was in his room. The soldiers took off my blindfold, and I saw an officer sitting at a desk with several soldiers around him. I told him what happened to me, and he removed my zip ties. I saw a soldier sitting on another desk, with several other soldiers next to him. After the questioning, the five soldiers who were in the room got up and started beating me hard. When they were done, they made me take off all my clothes. One of the soldiers brought a metal detector and ran it over my body. When he got to the right knee, the device beeped because of the platinum, and he used it to hit me on the knee. Then they told me to get dressed. I got dressed, and one of the soldiers took 50 shekels I had in my pocket and forced me to undress again and do 150 push-ups. I told him I couldn’t, and then the soldiers beat and cursed me. I was completely naked, and it was a very humiliating experience.
After a few minutes, the soldier ordered me to get dressed again. While I was getting dressed, they punched me in the belly and back. The soldiers handcuffed me again, this time in front and with rigid metal handcuffs that cut into my arms. They sat me down, and then one of the soldiers grabbed the handcuffs and lifted them up to force me to stand. Then he took me out of the room, while the soldiers hit me. One of them pushed my head down, to make sure I was bent over the whole time.
[One of the soldiers] forced me to undress again and do 150 push-ups. I told him I couldn’t, and then the soldiers beat and cursed me. I was completely naked, and it was a very humiliating experience
We reached the inner courtyard of Etzion Prison. By then, I couldn’t move at all. The soldiers loosened my handcuffs and two of them led me into the prison and put me in a cell that already had 11 inmates. In the cell, the prisoners picked me up and put me on one of the beds, which had a very thin mattress. I lay on the bed and even though it hurt and I could feel the metal parts on my back, I fell asleep.
The next day, Saturday, 17 August 2024, the prisoners in the cell tried to talk to the soldiers and get them to call a doctor, but they refused. My right knee was very swollen. At some point, the soldiers came, took me out of the cell, cuffed my hands and feet with metal handcuffs and led me to a vehicle that was parked outside. We drove for about 10 minutes and arrived at an empty yard. The soldiers took me out of the vehicle, swearing, stood me by a metal fence and tied my hands to it. They left me standing like that for about an hour, in the blistering sun, until I felt I was going to pass out. I heard the soldiers cursing me and couldn’t even open my mouth to ask for water.
Then they took off the handcuffs and sat me on the ground, and then they put me back in the same car and took me to prison again. When we arrived, they put me back in the same cell, but after about 10 minutes they took me out again, tied my hands and feet again, put me in a car and drove me to a hospital. I don’t know what hospital it was, but there were a lot of settlers there. A soldier pushed my head down, put me in a room and sat me on a bed. A Hebrew-speaking doctor came into the room. She checked my whole body and took my blood pressure, and then another doctor came in and checked my right leg. I told him my whole body hurt, and he spoke Arabic and told me the leg should be X-rayed. I was told to go to the X-ray room, which was very far from the examination room. The soldiers refused to take the metal cuffs off my feet, and it was very difficult to walk. They did an X-ray of my leg, and after the doctor checked it again, he said it was bruised and that because of the swelling, he wasn’t sure of its condition. I stayed at the hospital until 11:00 P.M.
That night, they took me to Ofer Prison. When we got there, they strip-searched me, naked. Then they put me in a prison uniform and took me to a cell measuring 1.5 x 1.5 meters. The cell was dirty and had a bed with a mattress and a blanket, a toilet, a sink and a small window. I stayed in it all night.
The next morning, Sunday, 18 August 2024, they put me in an interrogation room. The interrogator sitting in front of me was wearing civilian clothes. He asked what my name was, what I did for a living and where I was before I was arrested. I told him everything. The interrogation lasted until 4:00 P.M., and I was given food and drink. The interrogators were replaced several times, and they all asked the same questions. They all accused me of possessing a weapon and claimed that was why I was arrested. They also accused me of belonging to Hamas, and I explained to them that the army sits right next to my house, so that’s not impossible. I denied all the allegations. When they finished interrogating me, they put me back in the cell.
After an hour, I was taken back to the interrogation room. There was a new interrogator there, who asked the same questions and swore at me using very bad language. I don’t remember how long that interrogation lasted. After that, they took me back to the cell.
The next day, Monday, 19 August 2024, I was transferred to another wing. They blindfolded me, took me to a chair and sat me on it. I sat for a short time, and then I heard someone yell: “Where’s Jaber?” I recognized the voice of my uncle, Muhammad Jaber, 55, and realized he was in the room next to me. I heard him yelling and crying through the wall. I couldn’t bear to hear him cry. After about half an hour, they put me in a cell, and after a short time, they took me to an interrogation room. My uncle was sitting there, and we were both handcuffed. The interrogator sitting in the room said my uncle had been arrested because of what I did, and then left the room. After he left, my uncle asked me where I was hiding the weapon. I was very surprised and was angry at him for asking me such a question. He knows very well that no one dares carry a weapon in the area we live in. The interrogator came back into the room and the guard took me back to the cell.
At some point, they took me from the cell to the showers. When I went in, I saw my uncle sitting there. There were three Israeli police officers in dark blue uniforms who ordered us to undress. They brought clippers, closed the door, and ordered my uncle to shave my hair, mustache and beard. My uncle refused, but after the officers threatened him, he agreed and shaved me. We both felt terribly humiliated. When he finished, he was ordered to shave himself in those places as well. He hesitated, but after being threatened again, he did it. Then the soldiers gave us our clothes. After we got dressed, they handcuffed us with metal cuffs, blindfolded us and moved us to another room, where they ordered us to undress again and searched us. Then they moved us to another room, took off our handcuffs and blindfolds and sat us next to each other. After a short time, one of the soldiers took me back to the interrogation room, where they had me sign my statement. Then they put the two of us in a military vehicle that which drove us to the Bitunya military checkpoint in Ramallah. We were released and went home. They didn’t give me back my cellphone or the 50 shekels they took from me.
The next day, I went to the governmental hospital and was examined. I had bad bruising all over my body. I was treated and went home, but I went back to the hospital that same day, because I was in severe pain and almost passed out. The doctors gave me a CT scan and kept me for observation until 4:00 A.M.
I still don’t understand why they arrested me and beat me so brutally. I have bruises all over my body and pain in my back and legs. The pain never lets up.
* Testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari on 22 August 2024
