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.
The prison authorities started carrying out daily raids on the cells, along with violence and cruel interrogations. Before every raid, they threw stun grenades and tear gas canisters, which made us choke and made it very hard to breathe.
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 and shirts. They also took away our blankets, sheets, cleaning supplies and any food we had stored. For more than three months, we were not allowed to go out to the yard. In the cell I was in, which was meant for six prisoners, there were 17 of us.
The prison authorities started carrying out daily raids on the cells, along with violence and cruel interrogations. Before every raid, they threw stun grenades and tear gas canisters, which made us choke and made it very hard to breathe.
They also introduced a new food policy. In the morning, each prisoner was given two spoonfuls of labneh cheese and 11 slices of bread, and that was supposed to last 24 hours. In the second meal, we were given two spoonfuls of rice with soup that was mostly water. That was all the food we got for 24 hours. Of course it wasn’t enough, and I was hungry all the time. It caused me digestive problems and bowel issues that I’m still suffering from now, five days after I was released. Yard time was no longer regular and depended on the guard’s mood, and sometimes we weren’t allowed out at all.
I clearly remember the painful incident in which an inmate called ‘Abd a-Rahman Mar’i, from the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, was killed in prison. I heard the guards beating him. He was in the cell next to mine and shouted for my help.
Various IPS units attacked us often, with no justification, out of a desire to harm us and take revenge. I clearly remember the painful incident in which an inmate called ‘Abd a-Rahman Mar’i, from the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, was killed in prison. I heard the guards beating him. He was in the cell next to mine and shouted for my help. He begged and said he was dying, but I was locked in my cell and couldn’t help him. I could only try to say things to calm him. Later I saw IPS people carrying a body bag, and I understood he died following the attack. We were both in solitary confinement in the Megiddo isolation wing.
I stayed in Megiddo until December 2023. After that, I was transferred to Ohel Kedar Prison in Be’er Sheva and then I was held a few days in Ramle Prison. Then I was transferred to Nafha Prison in the desert, where I was held for the rest of my sentence. In Nafha, too, my family wasn’t allowed to visit me.
The conditions in Nafha were especially harsh, and prisoners serving heavy sentences and life sentences are held there. I suffered every single day. We went through a lot of interrogations, were forced to strip naked for searches and body inspections, and had our heads shoved into the toilet. They searched us for radios or phones. During raids on the cells, they used police dogs and tear gas.
After the war began, they took away our daily showers and confiscated cleaning supplies. They allocated a very short time for showering: one hour for 20 cells or more, which isn’t enough for more than 10 prisoners. When we were punished, they took away showers altogether. Sometimes, I managed to shower only once a month. Because of that I got scabies, which spread among all the prisoners. My whole body itched unbearably and there was no treatment. I suspect the guards deliberately moved infected prisoners to other cells so the disease would spread.
One of them [the guards] shaved my head with an electric razor while pressing painfully on my scalp, and the other guards laughed. […] I discovered that the guard had shaved my hair in the shape of a Star of David.
Also, because the food was so bad, a lot of people including myself had stomach aches and digestive problems. People got badly constipated.
For a year and a half in that prison, I endured beatings, attacks, and tear gas and stun grenades hurled almost every day.
On 10 April 2025, I was released from Nafha Prison along with other prisoners. First they transferred us to Ramon Prison, where guards attacked and beat us. One of them shaved my head with an electric razor while pressing painfully on my scalp, and the other guards laughed. Then they took us to a-Dhahiriyah crossing and released us there. From there, people took me straight to the hospital in Dura, where I had tests done and got an IV. Only there, I discovered that the guard had shaved my hair in the shape of a Star of David.
From there, I was taken home to Qalqiliyah. But the joy wasn’t complete, because the scabies stopped me from hugging my parents, my little sisters and my brothers. I’m still getting medical treatment, and I go to the clinic every day so I can fully recover from it.
* Testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi on 15 April 2025
