Muhammad Farhat Jaber, 55, a father of seven from the Jaber neighborhood in central Hebron, was arrested by soldiers on 15 August 2024 and released after several days of abuse
I live with my wife and our three children, Luai, 29, ‘Obaydah, 22, and ‘Udai, 16, across from the Jaber 2 checkpoint, about 50 meters from the Ziad Jaber school.
The occupation authorities are making our lives miserable in order to drive us out and empty the area of Palestinians
Since the war began, the situation in our area has grown much worse, and we suffer a lot from the occupation forces. There are long delays at checkpoints, sometimes for hours on end, and more than once we’ve had to spend the night at a relative’s house because they wouldn’t let us through to get home. The soldiers are also very violent. My sons ‘Udai and ‘Obaydah have been detained several times, taken to the military camp near the gate of the Kiryat Arba settlement and beaten there. Even the water shortage has grown worse. Because we don’t get a regular supply through our taps, we have to buy water from tankers and fill up cisterns and tanks. But to bring a water tanker into the area, you have to get a permit and coordinate entry, and since the war started the army has refused to coordinate it, using the pretext that there is an emergency, so we have to fill a bucket of water at the mosque next to us.
The occupation authorities are making our lives miserable in order to drive us out and empty the area of Palestinians.
On Thursday, 15 August 2024, around 8:00 P.M., I saw dozens of soldiers spread out in the street by the checkpoint across from my house. I stood at the entrance to the house, watching what was going on, and then the soldiers shouted at me and ordered me to get back inside. I did as they said, went inside and closed the door. After about an hour, I heard a knock on the window. I opened it, and there were four soldiers outside. They ordered me to come out.
One of the soldiers blindfolded me and tied my hands behind my back with zip ties, tightening them [...] and forced me to kneel on the ground by the checkpoint. He left me like that for hours
I came out, and the soldiers said they wanted to go up to the roof through the external stairs. I opened the gate leading to those stairs for them, and went back inside. After about an hour, some soldiers arrived at the house with my nephew, Malek ‘Abd al-Jabbar, 29. Malek called out to me and I came out.
The soldiers took me to the checkpoint on Worshippers’ Route. There were dozens of soldiers there. One of them started questioning me in Arabic about two young men who’d passed through the checkpoint in front of my house. Then they showed me a video in which I recognized my son ‘Obaydah and my nephew Mahmoud, 20. They ordered me to call ‘Obaydah and Mahmoud and tell them to come to the checkpoint. I told the soldiers that ‘Obaydah was staying over at a friend’s outside our area and that Mahmoud was at a neighbor’s house, because they were planning to have a barbecue.
I called ‘Obaydah and Mahmoud and asked them to come there. The soldier asked me about Mahmoud and said he was holding a plastic bag with a weapon in it. I denied it and told them our children have nothing to do with such things. The soldier told me that Mahmoud was holding a bag. I said that maybe there were other things in the bag, and then he cursed me and accused me of lying. One of the soldiers blindfolded me and tied my hands behind my back with zip ties, tightening them. I asked him not to make them too tight, and then he swore at me again and forced me to kneel on the ground by the checkpoint. He left me like that for hours, until 3:00 A.M. Then they put me in the jeep. I couldn’t stand up because I’d knelt for so long and my legs were cramping.
The jeep drove me to the military camp in Wadi al-Ghrus, where they took me to the doctor to fill out a medical form. Then they put me back in the jeep, which took me to the military camp in Wadi al-Hasin. There, they took me out of the jeep and forced me to kneel in the yard again, with my head down. They kept me there like that for about an hour and then they took me back to the jeep.
The jeep took me to the military camp in Tel Rumeidah, where I was held inside for about two hours. Then the jeep drove somewhere I didn’t recognize, where they took me to a room and forced me to kneel in the same painful position for three hours, still blindfolded. Then they took me someplace else I didn’t know, and I stayed in the jeep there, too, for about two hours.
At Ofer Prison, they took me out of the jeep and the guards strip-searched me and took away my personal effects
Then they took me in the jeep again, this time to Etzion camp, but they didn’t leave me there. The jeep drove to another military camp that I don’t know, but they kept me in the jeep. Then it went to Ofer Prison.
At Ofer Prison, they took me out of the jeep and the guards strip-searched me and took away my personal effects. Then they gave me a prison uniform to wear and put me in a small cell with a bed and a toilet.
After about three hours, a prison guard took me to an interrogation room. There were two Arabic-speaking interrogators there, who accused me of possessing weapons. I denied the accusations and told them the soldiers had taken me from my home and that I didn’t know what they were talking about. One of the interrogators swore at me and insulted me. He also cursed Hamas and Sinwar.
The interrogation lasted about 15 minutes, and then I was taken back to the cell. I stayed in the cell until Saturday afternoon. Then a guard took me to an interrogation room where there was another interrogator, who grilled me in Arabic about weapons. He said I was covering for the young man and didn’t want to say he’d been carrying a weapon. He was talking about my nephew Mahmoud.
I answered: “Your cameras caught a young man holding a bag. That doesn’t mean there’s a weapon in the bag.” The interrogator got angry and yelled at me, accused me of lying and threatened to arrest my children. After about 10 minutes of interrogation, I was taken back to the cell.
In the afternoon, a guard took me to an interrogation room again. This time, the first two interrogators who questioned me were there. They questioned me again on the same suspicions. I denied all the allegations against me and against my nephew Mahmoud. After a half-hour interrogation, I was taken back to the cell.
I did as they instructed me and started shouting and making noises as if I was being beaten
I stayed in the cell without being interrogated again until Monday, 18 August 2024, in the afternoon. Then a guard took me to an interrogation room again. This time, the interrogator treated me better and said, “We’ll release you, but before that, we’ll take you to a cell near Mahmoud’s cell and we want you to shout loudly so Mahmoud can hear you.” The guard took me to that cell.
I didn’t see Mahmoud, but they said he was in the next cell. I did as they instructed me and started shouting and making noises as if I was being beaten, so that Mahmoud would hear me. Mahmoud didn’t react and I didn’t hear anything from him.
After about 10 minutes, the guard brought me back to the interrogation room and told me that because the plan failed, they would plan something else.
Then I was forced to sit on a chair in front of the desk, and one of the interrogators hid under the desk. They planned for Mahmoud to think I was alone in the room, and ordered me to ask him certain questions. The other interrogator left the room and the guard brought Mahmoud in. It was clear that he had been badly beaten and couldn’t stand. He had marks from beating on his face, too. The guard sat him down in a chair in front of me and left the room, while the interrogator was still hiding under the table.
I asked Mahmoud the questions they told me to ask. First, I asked how he was doing, and then I asked him if he’d crossed the checkpoint with a weapon. Mahmoud was surprised by my question and answered: “What weapon, uncle? Who carries a weapon in this area?” I answered him as the interrogator instructed me in advance, that he was caught on the army cameras with a weapon and that I’d seen the video.
Mahmoud got angry and said: “What are you talking about?” He said he didn’t have anything and that the bag had barbecue equipment in it.
Meanwhile, the interrogator came in and the guard took Mahmoud out of the room. The interrogator who had been hiding under the table came out, and the other one asked him about our conversation. He told him what was said in it.
They ordered me to shave my hair, mustache and beard as well, and threatened that they would do it themselves if I didn’t obey. I obeyed again
After that was over, the interrogator told me they would release Mahmoud and me until the end of proceedings. They took me back to the cell and after about four hours, a guard took me to a hallway where three police officers in blue [Israel Police] uniforms were standing. The officers took me to the bathroom. Mahmoud was there. They ordered us to undress, and then they gave me clippers and ordered me to shave Mahmoud’s hair, mustache and beard.
At first I refused, but then they threatened that if I didn’t obey, they would do it their way. I obeyed and shaved Mahmoud’s hair, beard and mustache, while they laughed and made fun of us.
When I was done shaving Mahmoud, they ordered me to shave my hair, mustache and beard as well, and threatened that they would do it themselves if I didn’t obey. I obeyed again and shaved my mustache, beard and hair. They gave us back our clothes.
Then they took me to an office and made me sit on the floor for about an hour and a half, after which they led me to a room where I took off my prisoner uniform and put on my clothes. Then they took me to an electric gate and ordered me to strip completely. I obeyed. They put me in a room that only had a table and made me sit on the floor for about an hour.
Then they took me to the room where my personal effects were and gave them back to me along with my ID card, but not my cell phone.
I asked them about the phone and the guard answered: “No phone.” After I got my things, they brought Mahmoud, and he told me they didn’t give his phone back either, and that they didn’t give him back a sum of money they took from him. They put us in a car that took us to a checkpoint I didn’t know. We caught a taxi there that took us to a relative’s in Samiramis, Ramallah, and from there, my nephew Nur Isma’il Jaber took us home.
When I got back to my neighborhood, all shaved, I was ashamed. I was ashamed to even host relatives who came to congratulate me on my release
I have never felt so humiliated and insulted in my life. I’m finding it hard to recover and am emotionally unwell.
When I got back to my neighborhood, all shaved, I was ashamed. I was ashamed to even host relatives who came to congratulate me on my release.
Mahmoud was released in bad shape, with blue bruises from beatings all over his body and face, and marks from the handcuffs that were tightened on his wrists. He was checked at a hospital, went home, and then felt very unwell and spent a few more hours at the hospital.
I’m still not in good physical shape. The zip ties left marks on my wrists and I also still have neck pain and cramps in my left arm.
Note: Muhammad Jaber and his nephew Mahmoud Jaber were released on 19 August 2024. No legal proceedings were opened against them.
* Testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari on 21 August 2024