Palestinian administrative detainees boycotting court proceedings for 4 months – while Israel continue to uphold them regardless

26 April 2022

נער פלסטיני בהפגנה נגד מעצרים מנהליים בשערי כלא עופר. צילום: אחמד אל-בז, אקטיבסטילס, 19.12.19

Since 1 January 2022, all the Palestinians in Israeli administrative detention have been boycotting the military court proceedings in their cases. No Israeli official has addressed their concerns, and the courts continue to hear the detention orders as usual. Since the boycott began, the courts have heard dozens of cases – in the absence of the detainees and their legal counsel.

The boycott is intended to unmask the façade of judicial review regarding administrative detention orders. In these hearings, the detainees merely play the part of extras in a proceeding aimed at sanctioning their incarceration. The state’s choice to continue the hearings as usual reinforces this claim, demonstrating that the detainees’ physical presence in court is meaningless.

According to official military figures, the amount of administrative detention orders rejected by the courts is negligible. In the vast majority of cases, the judges unwaveringly accept the military commander’s discretion, at most slightly shortening the length of the detention:

From the beginning of 2009 through 2013, a total of 3,996 administrative detention orders were issued for Palestinians. Of the orders heard by the courts during that time, 2,422 (about 60%) were authorized and 1,052 (about 26%) were shortened with no restriction placed on their extension. Another 99 orders (2.5%) were rejected, 196 (5%) were shortened and their extension restricted, and 214 (5.3%) were authorized and their extension restricted.
From the beginning of 2015 to the end of July 2017, a total of 3,909 administrative detention orders were issued for Palestinians. Of the orders heard by the courts during that time, 2,953 (about 75%) were authorized and 390 (about 10%) were shortened with no restrictions placed on their extension. Another 48 orders (1.2%) were rejected, 181 (4.6%) were shortened and their extension restricted, and 320 (8.1%) were authorized and their extension restricted.

The decision to place a Palestinian in administrative detention is made by the regional military commander – without indictment or trial. Under the military law that applies in the West Bank, a person can be administratively detained for six months. However, the order can be extended indefinitely, so the detention is effectively unlimited and detainees never know when they will be released. Individuals held in administrative detention must be brought before a military judge within eight days – either of the original detention order or of its extension. The judge may uphold the order, reject it, or shorten the period of detention stipulated in it. The decision may be appealed to the Military Court of Appeals or the subject of a High Court petition.

However, the judicial review is largely a façade. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the judges accept the ISA’s claim regarding the “security risk” that justifies the detainee’s immediate incarceration. As the evidence for the claim is not disclosed to the detainee and his counsel, he never knows the reason for the detention and cannot challenge the allegations supposedly made against him. In some cases, the judges request to see the classified material; in others, they do not review it or make any attempt to examine the information that led to the detention. In any case, the fact that the detainee cannot address this information empties the judicial process of any meaning.

The major problem with the judicial review is the court’s working assumption that administrative detention is a lawful measure. The judges only question how this power is implemented: did the military commander apply reasonable discretion in the case before them? At no point do they examine the legality of the measure itself.

In doing so, the judges completely ignore the fact that Israel’s use of administrative detention renders it unlawful. In violation of the restrictions placed by international law, Israel makes routine, extensive use of administrative detention. Over the years, it has placed thousands of Palestinians behind bars without charging them, without telling them what they are accused of, without disclosing the alleged evidence to them or to their lawyers, and without informing them when they will be released.

According to the Israel Prison Service, Israel is currently holding 579 Palestinians in administrative detention. During the first and second intifadas, Israel held many hundreds of Palestinians in administrative detention. Since March 2002, not a single month has gone by without Israel holding at least 100 Palestinians in administrative detention. In 2003 (during the second intifada), the figure crossed the 1,000 mark several times.

Unlike a prison sentence following trial, which is meant to punish a person for having committed a crime, administrative detention is meant to prevent a future crime. However, Israel uses this measure as a quick and easy substitute for a criminal trial, especially when the authorities have no proof of guilt or do not wish to disclose the evidence supposedly in their possession. Israel also exploits the availability of this measure to incarcerate Palestinians solely for holding particular political opinions or participating in nonviolent political activity.

Palestinians are held in administrative detention for lengthy periods, lasting from months to several years with repeated extensions. In many cases, a new detention order is issued just before the current order expires, when the detainee is already preparing to go home and the family is waiting. Extensions are a matter of course. For example:

At the end of August 2012, Israel was holding 184 Palestinians in administrative detention, 29 of them for half a year to a year (i.e., their detention had been extended at least once) and 106 for more than a year (i.e., their detention had been extended at least twice).
At the end of August 2016, Israel was holding 652 Palestinians in administrative detention, 279 of them for half a year to a year (i.e., their detention had been extended at least once) and 96 for more than a year (i.e., their detention had been extended at least twice).
At the end of August 2020, Israel was holding 355 Palestinians in administrative detention, 134 of them for half a year to a year (i.e., their detention had been extended at least once) and 54 for more than a year (i.e., their detention had been extended at least twice).

Administrative detention is a cruel measure that the Israeli regime uses extensively and unlawfully. For the detainees, the hardship of being incarcerated in harsh prison conditions and being cut off from one’s family, friends and daily life is compounded by unbearable uncertainty – regarding both the reason for the detention and the date of release.

The detention orders are heard in military courts, where the judges and prosecutors are uniformed Israelis operating by power of military orders. Some administrative detention orders are also the subject of High Court petitions, which are heard by Supreme Court Justices. They, too, do not represent the interests of the society to which the detainees belong, but rather the interests of the occupation regime. As such, they do not serve as an impartial arbitrator seeking justice; instead, they are a key mechanism in upholding Israel’s control over Palestinians in the West Bank.

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Administrative Detention

Occupation routine, December 2019: Four teenagers held for months without trial

Since 2015, hardly a month has gone by without Israel holding Palestinian minors in administrative detention – after the practice was avoided for some four years since December 2011. At the end of April 2016, the number peaked at 13 and since 2017, the average has been two to four a month. At the end of December 2019, the Israel Prison Service was holding at least 186 Palestinian minors as security prisoners or detainees, at least four of them in administrative detention. Five other Palestinian minors were being held for illegally entering Israel, which is considered a criminal offense. Israel’s military justice system regularly violates the rights of Palestinian minors. They are often arrested in the dead of night, led away handcuffed and blindfolded, and interrogated with physical and verbal violence or threats while they are tired and confused, cut off from their environment and without family members or other adults acting on their behalf. They usually meet their legal counsel for the first time in the military courtroom, and only then hear the charges against them. Instead of upholding their rights, Israel has created a façade of such protection by establishing a military juvenile court (which, in practice, focuses on authorizing plea bargains rather than examining evidence and investigating allegations), by legally shortening the incarceration periods (which can be repeatedly extended anyway), and by giving parents a minimal opportunity, subject to exceptional circumstances, to be involved in the trial (which usually does not take place as the proceedings end with a plea bargain). In administrative detention, the minors do not even know the allegations against them. The judicial review is meaningless in these cases, too, as the judges sign off on almost all detention requests. The violation of minors’ rights in administrative detention is compounded by uncertainty, as the detention orders can be extended time and again, so detainees never know when they will be released. This ambiguity makes the situation much harder for the minors and their families, as it is unclear when they will be able to go back to their lives. B’Tselem’s field researchers collected testimonies in the cases of three minors, two of whom are still incarcerated and the third was released in early January 2020. Hafez Zayud, 16, Jenin: On 7 July 2019, Hafez Zayud, a 16-year-old high-school student from Jenin, was arrested by the Palestinian Authority’s preventive security service. He was held in Jenin for about a month and interrogated before being released on 9 August. Less than two weeks later, on Monday night, 26 August, Israeli soldiers and police officers searched the family home and arrested Hafez, leading him away handcuffed and blindfolded. The next day, a police officer informed his father, Ibrahim Zayud, 42, that Hafez was being held in the Shomron (Salem) camp and let him speak briefly to his son. About four days later, an administrative detention order was issued against Hafez for four months, later reduced to three after an appeal. A few days before his scheduled date of release, Hafez was remanded in administrative detention for another three months. Unless the order is renewed again, he is set to be released on 24 February 2020. Hafez’s mother, Hiba Zayud, 35, a married mother of four, shared her feelings in a testimony she gave B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi on 26 January 2020: Hafez is my eldest son. He was arrested in late August and for the first few months, we couldn’t even visit him. It took a long time for us to get a permit to visit Megiddo Prison. My husband and I first saw him there in mid-November. I couldn’t sleep the night before, I felt so worried and was so looking forward to seeing him. We got to the prison at around 9:30 A.M. We waited for about an hour and a half until they called the families of the prisoners to come in. We gave Hafez some underwear, socks, pajamas and towels that they let us bring in. When I saw him, I was shocked – he was behind a glass partition, which I hadn’t expected at all. I didn’t know I wouldn’t be able to hug or kiss him. My husband supported me so I wouldn’t cry in front of our son. When I asked Hafez to stand up so I could get a proper look at him, he said his feet were tied. How could they tie my son’s feet inside the prison itself? After the visit, which lasted only 45 minutes, I went home feeling like we’d only had a few seconds together. I tried to remember Hafez’s face. He’s being held with no clear charges against him. Because we’re allowed to visit him only once a month, we’ve only seen him twice since then. The last time was on 6 January. I can’t visit him now because I’m nine months pregnant and the journey is too hard. My husband will visit him alone in February. Hafez’s younger brothers keep asking about him – when he’ll be released, when he’ll come home. I was very surprised when he was arrested by the Palestinian and Israeli security forces. We have been given no explanation for the punishments that suddenly landed on him, with no defined allegations. Hafez was supposed to graduate high-school this year. If they keep him in prison, it will jeopardize his studies and his future. Suliman ‘Abd a-Rahman, 17, Yabrud: On Thursday night, 19 December 2019, soldiers entered the ‘Abd a-Rahman family’s home in the village of Yabrud, north of Ramallah. They ordered Suliman ‘Abd a-Rahman, 17, to get dressed and led him away, blindfolded and handcuffed, without telling the family where he was being taken. Suliman’s father, Salem, 53, related in a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad on 31 December 2019: After they left, none of us – his mother, his brothers and sisters, and I – could get back to sleep. I started making phone calls first thing in the morning. I called the Red Cross, the Authority for Prisoners’ Affairs and human rights organizations, to try and find out what happened to my son. I was very worried. Only at around 2:00 P.M., an Israeli intelligence officer called me and informed me, without giving his name, that my son had been interrogated at Ofer Prison and brought before a judge. I drove straight away to the Ofer court, where a lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoners Club (Nadi al-Asir) was waiting for me. I was allowed into the courtroom for a minute to see my son from afar and then they took me out. Suliman looked exhausted. When the hearing was over, the lawyer told me he’d been remanded in custody for 72 hours, and that they were going to hold him in administrative detention based on classified material. After the 72 hours were over, another hearing was held. The lawyer said it was in camera and that he wasn’t allowed to participate, either. Eight days later, another hearing was held, again without the lawyer, who told me they hadn’t even given him prior notice. He said they had called him after the fact and told him that the court had authorized an administrative detention order for four months and that Suliman had been transferred to the youth wing at Ofer Prison. From what I know about administrative detention, I understand he’s being held with no specific charges against him and no certain date of release, because when the four months are up, they can renew the detention order. It’s the worst kind of imprisonment. Imagine a kid that age not knowing what’s going to happen next and what lies ahead. I’m sure he’s worried and confused, which could have a lasting effect on his physical and mental health. We still haven’t seen ‘Abd a-Rahman and have no idea if they’ll even let us visit him. The uncertainty is stifling and making us even more anxious. Suliman Abu Ghosh, 16, Qalandiya Refugee Camp: Suliman Abu Ghosh, 16, an apprentice at a hairdressing salon, was arrested twice in 2019 and held in administrative detention for four months each time. The first time, in mid-January, soldiers came to the family home at night, when Suliman was out, and ordered his father, Muhammad, to bring him to Qalandiya checkpoint in the morning. When Suliman went to the checkpoint, he was detained for two hours and released, but then immediately summoned to Ofer Prison. After a brief interrogation, he was taken, blindfolded and handcuffed, to a prison cell at the youth wing, where the guards took off the blindfold and handcuffs and frisked him in his underwear. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad on 12 January 2020, Suliman recounted: Two or three days later, I was interrogated by the Shin Bet. The interrogator took my fingerprints and a mugshot. Then he administered what he called a DNA test with no explanation, and I was taken back to the wing. The next morning, at 6:30, I was handcuffed and taken to the waiting room at the Ofer court, where I was given breakfast – a yoghurt and two slices of bread. At 2:00 P.M., the hearing began. I saw my parents from a distance in the courtroom, but wasn’t allowed to go over and talk to them. The entire hearing consisted of the judge deciding to postpone it for a week. I didn’t even know why it was held, what I was charged with or why I’d been detained. The next day, in another ISA (Shin Bet) interrogation, Abu Ghosh was asked why he had published photographs of his brother, Hussein, who was shot and killed by the security guard at the settlement of Beit Horon on 25 January 2016 after stabbing two Israeli civilians together with another Palestinian. One of the victims, Shlomit Krigman, succumbed to her wounds the following day. In the interrogation, Abu Ghosh was told that he was suspected of endangering state security, ties with the enemy, possessing weapons and attempts to carry out terror attacks. He was told he would be remanded in custody for 72 hours. The next day, another court hearing was held without his parents being there or even receiving notice, in which the military prosecution indicted Abu Ghosh on charges of incitement. After the judge decided to release him on bail, the prosecution asked to remand him in custody for 72 hours to issue an administrative detention order. The judge agreed to 48 hours. Abu Ghosh continued in his testimony: There was another court hearing and I was put in administrative detention for four months. At the hearing, I had no idea what was going on. Afterwards, the lawyer apologized and said he’d tried to get me out, but there was apparently classified information about me that he couldn’t see. He reassured me that because I was a minor, they wouldn’t extend the detention. Then I was taken back to the youth wing. I spent most of the detention with other minors on the wing. We had games and regular hours for studying Hebrew, Arabic, maths and other subjects. I was very anxious and stressed the whole time. I kept wondering why I was in detention even though I’m just a kid. Until my trial, I didn’t even know what administrative detention was. My lawyer explained that you’re put in prison based on a secret file, with no specific charges. I felt it was unjust, because the detention was arbitrary and unfounded. My lawyer reassured me that the detention order wouldn’t be renewed, but I couldn’t be sure of that. My mother and brothers visited me in prison three times, but my father couldn’t make it because of his work. On 13 May 2019, I was released at the Beit Sira checkpoint. My family and friends were waiting for me there and took me home. I went back to my life, working with my father at a stationery shop in Ramallah and as an apprentice at a hair salon. About four months later, on 4 September 2019, an ISA agent called Muhammad Abu Ghosh and ordered him to bring his son to Ofer Prison. Upon his arrival, Suliman Abu Ghosh was told he was entering administrative detention. He was handcuffed, strip-searched and taken to the youth wing. The next day, Abu Ghosh was interrogated at the ISA facility in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem, with his hands and feet tied. He recounted: After a few hours, I don’t know exactly how long, I started getting worried and scared because I didn’t know what was going on. I felt very lonely. The dim lighting in the cell was spooky, and there was no way to pass the time with just a mattress and blankets there. Then I was taken for interrogation. The interrogator asked me whether I knew why I was there. I said it was because of my sister Mais, who was arrested on 28 August 2019 and I knew she’d been interrogated at the Russian Compound. I signed a document in Arabic that detailed my rights, after they asked me if I’d heard about terror attacks and I said I hadn’t. Then they took me back to the cell. An hour or two passed, and then I was taken again for interrogation. The interrogator said I was in administrative detention and asked whether I had a weapon, and whether I’d ever fired at an Israeli tower or infrastructure or bought or sold arms. I denied everything. After about ten minutes, they took me back to the cell. I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was taken for interrogation again. The interrogator asked whether I wanted to see my sister, and I said yes. A few minutes later, they brought her in and the interrogator let me hug her. She looked terrible. It looked like she’d been dragged by the hair, which was all in a mess. She was pale, with red eyes and black rings under them. She looked like she could barely stand. She was stooped over, with her head down, and couldn’t stand up straight. It was obvious she’d been tortured and was in a lot of pain. When I hugged her, she didn’t respond and didn’t hug me back. She said: “When you get home, take good care of Mom and Dad and everyone”. I said: “I’m not going home. I’m in detention. From here I’ll be taken to Ofer Prison.” She looked shocked, as if it seemed strange to her that I’d been arrested. She said to the interrogator: “You told me you wouldn’t arrest him.” He answered in an indifferent tone of voice: “We’re sending him back to Ofer.” I asked him: “What did you do to her? Why does she look like that?” Then they sent her out of the room and I was left alone. After that, a police officer took me back to the cell. Half an hour later, I was transferred to a police van and taken to Ofer Prison. I later learned that I’d been at the Russian Compound for a day and a half. At Ofer, they interrogated me again and then remanded me in custody for another 72 hours. The next day I was taken to the courtroom at Ofer, but no decision was made in the hearing. None of my family were there. The day after, I was issued an administrative detention order for four months. Two months later, I was taken to court for a hearing on an appeal filed by the Addameer organization, which demanded my release or reduction of the detention to three months. No decision was made in the hearing itself. After I went back to the youth wing, I was informed that the detention had been authorized for four months, but that it wouldn’t be extended. My family visited me just once, and I was released on 2 January 2020. I don’t know what to say. I’m scared they’ll put me in administrative detention again. It’s hovering over my entire life and future.

6 February 2020

Relative waits to visit detainee at Ofer Prison. Photo: Oren Ziv, activestills.org, 29 Oct 2017

Administrative Detention

Israel holds even Palestinian minors in administrative detention

In early November 2021, according to figures the Israel Prison Service provided HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual, Israel was holding 482 Palestinians in administrative detention. According to the Palestinian Authority Prisoners' Office, four of them are minors. Administrative detention is incarceration without trial alleging that a person intends to commit offense – without having done so yet. As the detainees are not given the grounds for their detention, which are based on classified evidence, they cannot mount a defense or refute the allegations made against them. Furthermore, unlike a regular prison sentence, administrative detention may be extended repeatedly, so the detainees cannot know when they will be released. Israel uses this measure as a matter of routine. Over the years, it has held thousands of Palestinians in administrative detention for extended periods, some lasting years. Formally, judges review the administrative detention orders and the detainees may appeal to the Supreme Court. Yet this is merely a semblance of judicial overview and, barring highly exceptional cases, judges approve the vast majority of orders. Administrative detention deeply affects the families of the detainees, especially in the case of minors. The families do not know when their loved ones will be released, and are forced to live in uncertainty for months on end. As Israel does not permit them regular contact, they have no way of knowing the physical and mental state of their incarcerated relatives. Phone calls are prohibited and visits are limited to a brief meeting behind a glass partition, with long intervals in between. B'Tselem field researchers collected testimonies from the parents of three Palestinian minors currently being held in administrative detention. They described living in constant anxiety over their sons' wellbeing, with the uncertainty of never knowing when they will be released. In a testimony he gave B'Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad, Mu'amar Nakhleh (49) from Ramallah described how his family is coping with the incarceration of his 17-year-old son Amal: Amal was born when his mother was six months pregnant. The doctors hooked him up to a ventilator and we feared he wouldn't survive. When we were asked for a name, we named him Amal (hope) because we hoped he would live. He was discharged from hospital about three months later. In June 2020, Amal started vomiting blood. He had difficulty breathing and swallowing. Medical tests found a tumor in his lungs, which required surgery that could only be performed at the French Hospital in Jerusalem. We applied for permits to enter Israel for me and for him, so I could accompany him to the surgery, but my request was denied on security grounds. The ISA summoned Amal for questioning at Ofer Prison. On 1 June 2020, he met with them. They checked his ID card and after making him wait for two hours, they told him to go home because the interrogator wasn't there. A few days later, we managed to sneak Amal into the hospital in Jerusalem with the help of some friends, and he had the surgery. He was discharged after five days. A few days later, someone from the ISA called us and summoned Amal for questioning again. I contacted the human rights organization Addameer, and they contacted the Israeli authorities and sent them his medical reports to prove he was ill. The Israelis informed Addameer he would not be arrested at that time. In October 2020, Amal was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a very rare disease that causes difficulty breathing and swallowing food, as well as cramps. He has to take medication every four hours. On 2 November 2020, Amal was on his way to Rawabi with friends when soldiers arrested him. He was held for 38 days and released on 10 December. On Monday, 18 January 2021, he was summoned to the Palestinian Intelligence offices. They held him there overnight, and he came home the following day. He only managed to sleep at home for one night. Then, on the night between Wednesday and Thursday, soldiers and ISA agents came to our house at 3:00 A.M. They searched the house, told Amal to get dressed and get his medication, and arrested him. I immediately contacted Addameer to could find out where they had taken him. They checked me and informed me that the ISA had transferred Amal to administrative detention at Megiddo Prison. Since then, his detention has been extended three times. His lawyer told us it might be extended a fourth time, and we're very anxious and tense. We don't have a moment’s peace. We worry about him all the time. His condition is currently stable and hasn’t grown worse, but he's at risk because of the length of the detention and his illness. On 19 September 2021, when they extended Amal's detention for the third time, it was harder and more painful than the previous extensions because that time, he wasn't given a week’s notice and we believed he was about to be released. It felt like everything was happening in slow motion. I had calculated the dates and imagined: Now Amal's getting out of prison, he’s about to arrive and knock on the door, now is the moment we meet, a dream come true. But all that was taken away from us at the last minute, when our lawyer told us that minutes before he was supposed to be released, his detention had been extended for four months. Since Amal was arrested, we've applied for a permit to visit him several times, but they only allowed his mother and me to visit him once, in April 2021. We saw him behind a glass partition and couldn't even hug him. The visit only lasted 40 minutes, which was barely enough time to ask him how he was doing and how his health was. He was tired and weak and said he was taking his medication regularly. I felt that he was just saying that so we wouldn't worry. Since the visit, we've applied every month, but all the requests have been rejected. They say I’m denied entry because I've been in prison, and that's why my wife is also denied. We submit requests every month. One time, the Red Cross informed us that we’d received permission to visit, but five days later they got back to us and said the ISA had gone back on their word and the permit had been revoked. That was really tough. Five days ago, we were informed we’ve received a permit to visit him on 8 November 2021. Amal's mother and I are now very anxious that our permit will be revoked again. Update: On 8 November 2021, Amal Nakhleh's father and brother visited him in prison. In a testimony she gave B'Tselem field researcher Musa Abu Hashhash, Safaa al-Harimi (43), a mother of five from Wadi Rahal in Bethlehem District, recounted the arrest of her 17-year-old son Sami: My son Sami ran our family's small grocery store. On 20 September 2021, while he was asleep in bed, soldiers entered our home. Sami yelled that he hadn't done anything and that he didn't want to go to prison. At first, they took him for questioning at the Russian Compound in Jerusalem. After 10 days, he was issued an administrative detention order for four months. Our lawyer said the arrest was probably related to incitement on Facebook, but he didn't know any more than that. At first, we didn't even know which prison Sami was in, until we contacted HaMoked and found out he was in Ofer Prison. I don't know why the military arrested my son. He worked in the grocery store from morning till night. It's very hard without him. I think about him all the time: when we sit down to eat, when I go into his room and see his empty bed. I keep calling the lawyer to check if there's any new information and if he's visited him. I'm trying to find out if he's coming home at the end of the four months’ detention, but no one knows. I worry about Sami very much. He's still a child and doesn't know how to deal with something like this. I saw how scared he was when he was arrested. In a testimony she gave B'Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi, Asmaa Mansur (37), a mother of four from Jenin, spoke about the administrative detention of her 17-year-old son Muhammad: In the early hours of 8 April 2021, soldiers entered our home. It was the first time in my life that happened to me. The soldiers broke the door down while we were asleep, and we woke up from their shouting. We ran to the door to stop them from entering the kids’ rooms. Three of our kids live with us – Muhammad (17), Masah (16) and Maryam (11). Meanwhile, the kids woke up from the shouting and came out of their rooms. The soldiers went for Muhammad immediately. I saw one of them hit him on the head with a rifle butt. Another one tied Muhammad’s hands together, and then they put him in one of the rooms. After about five minutes, they led him out of the house without letting us give him clothes, say goodbye or hug him. They took away his cell phone. I asked them to let me say goodbye to him, but they yelled at me and wouldn't let me come near. When they led Muhammad out, I was shocked to see dozens of soldiers surrounding the house in every direction. There was also a masked man in plain clothes with them. After they arrested Muhammad, he was taken for questioning at Jalameh Prison (Kishon) and held there for 28 days. Then he was transferred to administrative detention at Megiddo Prison. The first administrative detention order was issued for six months, until 8 October 2021. We expected him to be released, but the day before the order expired, the prison told us not to pick him up because his detention had been extended by another four months, until 8 February 2022. We couldn't believe it was happening. I still have an anxiety attack whenever I think about the day he was arrested. I'm very sad about Muhammad. He was an outstanding student. The day before he was arrested, he had a test in which he got an A. Being in prison has denied him the opportunity to continue studying in high school, and deprived me of the joy of seeing him graduate successfully. I worry he’ll be in prison for a long time and it will ruin his future. Muhammad hoped to study abroad after graduating from high school. Since Muhammad was arrested, we’ve only been allowed to visit him once. That was six months and five days after the arrest. It's hard to describe how shocking it is to see your son behind a glass partition. His father and I spoke with him on the phone for 45 minutes, through the glass. We both cried non-stop. Since then, only his lawyer has been able to visit him.

18 November 2021

חיילים במהלך פשיטה על מחנה הפליטים אל-ערוב במחוז חברון. צילום: אן פק, אקטיבסטילס, 24.5.13

A Routine Founded on Violence

Occupation routine: Soldiers assault 16-year-old at al-'Arrub R.C., break his jaw and arrest him for 26 days

On Sunday, 29 November 2020, at around 8:00 A.M., two military jeeps entered al-'Arrub R.C. Earlier that day, two settlers who were traveling on the road near the refugee camp were slightly injured by stones. As the jeeps entered, children and youths threw stones at the soldiers. The soldiers fired tear gas canisters and stun grenades. One jeep followed the crowd and hit 16-year-old Muhammad Muqbal. He fell but then got up and kept running until the soldiers caught him. A soldier hit him in the jaw, and he fell again. Another soldier kicked him all over his body as he lay on the ground. The soldiers then handcuffed him and put him in the jeep. One of the soldiers kept beating him on the car ride. Muqbal and some other youths who were detained in al-'Arrub R.C. that day were taken to the Etzion police station, where they waited for hours and were interrogated intermittently. Muqbal’s basic rights were violated during his interrogation, which ended with him signing a document written in Hebrew, a language he does not understand. After the interrogation, the soldiers took the youths into a kitchen. One of the soldiers told them they could sleep on the floor. They were given no food or drink during this whole time. At 3:00 A.M., soldiers came and took Muqbal to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital in Jerusalem, where he was handcuffed to the bed. Soldiers posted at the door to his room initially refused to let his father in to see him. Muqbal had jaw surgery two days later, and the next evening, 4 December 2020, he was taken to Megiddo Prison. On 6 December 2020, the military prosecution indicted Muqbal on two counts: Throwing a Molotov cocktail in March 2020 and stone-throwing on the day he was arrested. The prosecution asked to have Muqbal remanded to custody until the end of proceedings, but the military judge rejected the motion. The prosecution’s appeal was dismissed, and Muqbal was released on 25 December 2020, after a NIS 3,000 (~ USD 900) bail was posted. On 8 March 2021, Muqbal was convicted in a plea bargain. The first count of the indictment was dropped, and he was sentenced to 26 days in prison - equal to the number of days he had already served. The bail was converted to a fine. Muqbal’s case is not an aberration. It reflects the violence the occupation brings to the everyday lives of young males throughout the West Bank. Israel arrests hundreds of Palestinian minors each year, systemically and systematically violating their rights throughout the entire process - from the arrest itself, through the interrogation and in the legal proceedings at the Juvenile Military Court. While Israel boasts laws and procedures purportedly in place to safeguard the rights of minors, these are no more than a smokescreen designed to legitimize the severe harm caused to minors. Muhammad Muqbal described his arrest and 26-day incarceration to B’Tselem field researcher Musa Abu Hashhash on 28 December 2020: I ran fast, and one of the military jeeps hit me in the shoulder. I fell down and then got up and carried on running. I went into a house that had its door open. Three soldiers ran after me. One of them caught me and hit me more than once on the left side of the jaw. It hurt badly, and I fell on the floor. Another soldier attacked me and started kicking me in different parts of my body. The wound in my face was bleeding. I got up, and then they led me to the road, tied my hands behind my back and had me sit down in front of a closed shop. A few minutes later, they put me in a jeep and blindfolded me. I sat on the floor of the jeep. There were four soldiers in it, and one of them hit me, kicked me and spat at me more than once. The jeep drove for about 500 meters and stopped at the entrance to the refugee camp, by the gate. The soldiers took me out there, near the electric gate, and from under the blindfold, I saw four detainees that the soldiers had arrested before me, standing at the entrance. A man in military uniforms approached me and said he was “Captain Karam.” I’d heard about him. I know he’s the ISA officer in charge of our refugee camp. He hit me in the face with the butt of his rifle. He moved my blindfold and took a picture of me and the rest of the detainees. After about five minutes, we were all taken in a large military vehicle to the settlement of Carmei Tzur. We were kept there in the courtyard for about two hours. My jaw hurt, and it was bleeding. Then they put us in another military vehicle and drove us to the police station in Etzion. We got there in the early afternoon, and the soldiers took us into the courtyard. In the later afternoon, they started interrogating us, one by one. I was third in line. Before the interrogation, a lawyer spoke to me on the phone and told me I could exercise the right to remain silent and not to be afraid. An interrogator by the name of Yusef interrogated me. He accused me of throwing a Molotov cocktail at an Israeli bus a few months ago and throwing stones at military vehicles. I denied both accusations, and after ten minutes, the interrogator took me out to the yard. They left me there until the evening. Then they took me back into the interrogation room, and a different interrogator questioned me. He yelled and said I was lying. He started asking: “So the soldiers and camp residents who saw you do it are liars, and only you’re right?” I continued denying it, and the interrogator wrote down what I said and ordered me to sign my statement. He told me I was signing what I had said. I signed and gave my fingerprints, and my photo was taken. At around 9:00 P.M., after they’d finished questioning the other four detainees, the soldiers took us to a place that looked like a kitchen, in front of the yard, and one of them told us we could sleep on the floor. That’s when a military doctor came and gave us a coronavirus test and asked if we had any illnesses. We sat on the floor in the kitchen for about six hours. They didn’t give us food or drink, and we weren’t able to sleep either. My jaw hurt a lot. We were handcuffed and blindfolded the whole time, and time went by slowly. At around 3:00 A.M., the soldiers took me out of the kitchen. The others had been taken before. I was taken in a small vehicle with a four-soldier escort. I was sitting in the front seat, between two soldiers. We drove to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital. I knew where I was by the sign at the entrance. I got there at about 4:00 A.M. I got tested for coronavirus again, and then I was given painkillers. Two soldiers escorted me. One of them was the one who attacked me during the arrest. I was taken into a room, and one of the soldiers tied my left hand to the bed. The pain was so bad I couldn’t sleep. In the evening, I was taken for X-rays and then brought back to the room. There was a patient from Jerusalem in the room, and he told me he’d heard the doctors saying in Hebrew that I was going to need surgery. After sunset, in the evening hours, my father came and tried to get in the room. He called out to me and asked me how I was feeling. The two soldiers kicked him out. He tried to get to the door every once in a while to ask me how I was doing and told me not to worry. The next day, Tuesday, I was taken into another room, and the soldiers were replaced. The new soldiers let my father come into the room for a few minutes and talk to me. My father told me he had signed consent for my surgery and told me it would be on Wednesday. On Wednesday, I was taken into the operating room, and the surgery started at around noon. It took four hours, and after, they took me back to the room. I found out the doctors had put in a fastener to put my jaw together on the left side. It stops me from chewing or moving my jaw. On Thursday, at around 8:00 P.M., I was taken in a vehicle used to transport detainees to Megiddo Prison with my hands and feet cuffed. In the prison, they took me into a room where I stayed by myself for four days. After that, I was taken into a room with five underaged detainees. I stayed at Megiddo for 18 days. I got soup to eat and painkillers. There were three court hearings that I attended through video. A lawyer represented me. Then, I was transferred to Ofer Prison, where there was a final hearing on 24 December 2020, which I also attended through video. It lasted more than half an hour, and the judge asked me what I would do when I went back home. I told him I’d go back to school. I couldn’t understand the interpreter that well because the connection wasn’t good, and I didn’t understand what the judge decided. They took me back to a room at Ofer, and I stayed the night there. In the morning, it was Friday, they told me I was getting released that day. I later found out I’d been released on a 3,000 NIS bail. That day, 25 December 2020, before noon, a military jeep took me to the al-Jib checkpoint, and my father was waiting for me there in a friend’s car and took me home. I still can’t eat properly, and I’m getting liquids only. A doctor at the hospital in Hebron told me it would take two more weeks before they remove the metal fastener. Muhammad’s father, Munir Muqbal, 47 and father of six, said in a testimony he gave to B’Tselem field researcher Musa Abu Hashhash on 6 December 2020, while his son was held in custody: The day after the arrest, in the early afternoon, I got a call from Hadassah hospital and got asked to go there to sign the approval for Muhammad’s surgery. They sent me an invitation, and I sent it to the Coordination and Liaison Administration. At 5:00 P.M., I got an entry permit. I went straight to Hadassah Hospital and went up to the seventh floor. I saw Muhammad in one of the rooms and tried to go in, but two soldiers who were in the room barred me from entering. I stood in the doorway and asked Muhammad how he was feeling, and he said he was okay. I tried to go in the room several times, but the two soldiers wouldn’t let me. I managed to take a picture of Muhammad, who was tied to the bed. I stayed in the hallway all night and tried to get some sleep on one of the chairs there, but I wasn’t able to. On Tuesday, he was taken to a different room, and the two soldiers who had been there were replaced by others. One of the new soldiers let me in and talk to him for a few minutes. I managed to take a photo of him too. His left hand was tied to the bed, and a patient who was in the room with him told me his surgery was scheduled for Wednesday. On Wednesday, at around noon, he was taken to the operating room. The surgery lasted four hours, and after that, he was brought back to the room, and I managed to talk to him for about 15 minutes. The doctors told me they had put in a jaw fastener, so he would have a hard time eating for quite some time. I expected Muhammad to stay in the hospital for further treatment, but to my surprise, the very next day, Thursday, in the evening, the soldiers took him to Megiddo Prison. I went home and got updates about what was happening to him from a lawyer with Defense for Children International. His mother and I are very worried because they took him back to jail right after the operation.

21 March 2021