August 27 2024 - “Israeli forces arrested me after blindfolding and handcuffing me,” 16-year-old Jamal told Defense for Children International - Palestine.
“They transferred me in a military vehicle to the military tower at the entrance to Arroub camp and forced me to lie on the ground for an hour, during which one of the soldiers stepped on my back the entire time.”
Israeli forces detained Jamal after entering and damaging his home in Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, on July 16. Jamal has a knee injury with an exit wound caused by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces and he was scheduled to undergo surgery on the date of his arrest.
“The soldiers exploited my injury, forcing me to sit and kneel on my wounded knee for five hours. I was severely beaten if I moved due to the pain,” Jamal said.
“The soldiers transferred me to the Gush Etzion interrogation center and forced me once again to sit on my injured knee for six to seven hours, which caused the wound to reopen and bleed,” he said. “They put headphones on my ears and played songs at a loud and annoying volume for an hour and a half, knowing that I suffer from weak hearing in my right ear, and this caused me pain in my left ear and head."
The interrogator questioned Jamal for four hours, accusing him of throwing Molotov cocktails and coercing him to confess, offering him cigarettes in exchange for a confession. Jamal was compelled to sign a document in Hebrew without an Arabic translation and was transferred to Ofer prison, near Ramallah.
“The food is poor quality, uncooked, and insufficient for us as children. It causes me difficulties because I suffer from stomach problems,” Jamal said. “There is little comfort in the cell, as there are not enough beds for everyone. Some of us are forced to sleep on the floor in shifts.”
"By the end of June, Israeli forces were detaining 226 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank. 75 are held without charge or trial in administrative detention, which is a record number since DCIP began monitoring child administrative detainees in 2008."
Source: Defense for Children International - Palestine