Muhammad ‘Aref Jaber, 21, from the Jaber neighborhood in central Hebron, was attacked by soldiers on 17 May 2024 together with Muhammad Abu Ramileh
I live with my parents, brothers and sister in the Jaber neighborhood in Hebron, on the main street that leads to al-Haram al-Ibrahimi [Tomb of the Patriarchs] and the settlement of Kiryat Arba. Israel calls it the Worshippers’ Route.
Our neighborhood is in an area that was put under curfew after the events of October 7. Now the curfew is at night, from 7:00 in the evening, and all of Friday and Saturday. I work in construction, but I’ve been unemployed since the war started.
We chatted and drank coffee to pass the time, because once the curfew is on, we can’t leave the neighborhood or do anything else. At 11:00 P.M., a soldier came into the yard, stood there, looked at us, and pointed his gun at us
On Friday, 17 May 2024, in the late evening, I was hanging out with friends in Ziad’s yard. He lives about 150 meters from the main street and the Jaber checkpoint. We were seven guys there. We chatted and drank coffee to pass the time, because once the curfew is on, we can’t leave the neighborhood or do anything else.
At 11:00 P.M., a soldier came into the yard, stood there, looked at us, and pointed his gun at us. Then he ordered me and my friend Muhammad Abu Ramileh (20) to get up and go over to him.
We both got up immediately and walked over to him, and he ordered us to hold hands and walk ahead of him. He took us to the military observation point next to the Jaber checkpoint, walking behind us with his gun pointing at us the whole way. When we got there, he ordered us to sit on the ground.
The soldiers kept us there for about 40 minutes, and then the first soldier said he’d seen us jumping over concrete blocks on the road that leads to the a-Salaymeh neighborhood. We answered that we’d done no such thing and were just hanging out with friends in a friend’s yard. The soldier took our phones, and then more soldiers came and started looking through our phones.
They searched both of us and then tied my hands with zip ties, put a garbage bag over my eyes and led me to a military jeep. They put me in the jeep and made me sit on the floor. The jeep started driving, and on the way, a soldier asked me in Hebrew, “What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”. I answered, “The soldier brought us,” and he told me I was lying. I asked him, “Where are you going?” He answered, “I’m an officer. You can’t talk to me.”
I heard the soldiers in the jeep telling each other that I should be beaten. Then one of them said, “We’ll count to three and start hitting him together.” Then they really did count to three and started punching me in the gut. They did that again and again, maybe ten times
I understand a little Hebrew, and I heard the soldiers in the jeep telling each other that I should be beaten. Then one of them said, “We’ll count to three and start hitting him together.” Then they really did count to three and started punching me in the gut. They did that again and again, maybe ten times. In the end, the jeep got to the observation tower in the Wadi al-Hasin area and stopped in the yard. They grabbed me by the feet and dropped me out of the jeep.
Then one of the soldiers made me stand up, pushed my head down and pulled my tied hands up. They put me in the yard of the tower, and then two of them left.
From under the blindfold, I could see the feet of about 20 soldiers in the yard. One of them grabbed my tied hands and walked me between the soldiers. Every soldier I passed slapped me or kicked my legs. Some hit me on my head and in the belly. The soldiers also swore at me, and forced me to curse my mother and say after them, “Am Yisrael Chai” [the People of Israel Live], over and over again. My head hurt. I injured my left eye in a work accident, so that area is sensitive. I had sharp pain in my eye from the beating.
Then they took me up to the observation tower and forced me to kneel there for four hours without moving. My legs went completely numb. At some point, the soldiers brought my friend Muhammad Abu Ramileh in, too, and had him sit beside me in the same position. He told me that before they took him up to the tower, the soldiers had harshly beaten and kicked him.
The soldiers put garbage bags over our heads and ordered us to curse our mothers and families. I think they were filming it. In the process, they played and sang Hebrew songs loudly, and kept kicking us the whole time.
Every time they beat Muhammad, I heard his voice. I also heard it when they forced him to curse his mother and Palestine, and to say “Am Yisrael Chai” over and over again. He was having trouble breathing and told the soldiers so in English, but they ignored him and kept kicking him instead of giving him first aid.
The soldiers put garbage bags over our heads and ordered us to curse our mothers and families. I think they were filming it
I was dizzy and had difficulty following what was happening because of the sharp pain in my left eye and head. The soldiers ordered us to curse ourselves, and in the process, I heard them talking to other people. I think it was on a video call.
That went on like until 4:00 A.M., and then the soldiers took us down to the yard, kicking us the whole way down. When we got to the yard, they cut the knot between the zip ties but left them tightly fastened on our wrists.
One of the soldiers kicked Muhammad and me and told us we weren’t allowed to take off the blindfolds. Then they ordered us to go back to the Jaber neighborhood through Wadi al-Hasin, but didn’t give us back our phones. After we were a little further away, one of the soldiers ran after us and handed the phones to us.
Once we were even further away, we took off the blindfolds, and I called my brother Anas and told him what happened. I went home. The next day, Saturday, I went to a doctor who said my eye was worse because of the beating and was badly inflamed. He said I would have to get shots in the eye. In the meantime, I can’t see well in that eye and today I have an appointment for a test at al-Muhtaseb Hospital.
Testimony of Muhammad Abu Ramileh
* Testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari on 19 May 2024
