DAWN.COM

Today's Paper | May 09, 2026

Published 29 Dec, 2023 05:08pm

Arrests, beatings, humiliation but ‘no clear questions’ from Israeli forces: report

Mujahed Zahran, 20, who was among more than 30 Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in Deir Abu Mesha’al, northwest of Ramallah, says he was blindfolded and forced into an SUV when the beatings started, Al Jazeera reports.

“They started intimidating me, telling me that I’m a Hamas member,” he told Al Jazeera. “There was a soldier who was hitting me against the walls several times, and I was blindfolded, so I was not aware of what was happening exactly.

“They were humiliating us also,” he said, referring to the group of Palestinians detained in a room. “They would come and stand in front of me and just start laughing. They treated me like an animal. They also tried to burn me with a cigarette.

“There were no clear questions from them; we did not understand what they wanted exactly. It was just provocation.”

His mother Umm Huthaifa told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces had ransacked their home, vandalising and destroying “everything”.

“They broke the windows, mirrors, glasses. Everything has been destroyed and damaged… we’ve been trying to clean up since this morning,” she said, adding that the soldiers had emptied the olive oil, spices, and flour onto the floor.

Read Comments

Pakistan Army cadet gets top honours at Australian military college Next Story