On August 11, a 15-year-old Palestinian youth from Beit Ummar was abducted by Israeli soldiers. He was released without charge 10 hours later. The following is a narration in his words of what happened to them during those 10 hours:

“I was on village land opposite to the settlement of Karmi Zur with my friends at around 4:30 pm. There were no clashes with Israeli soldiers at the time. Two soldiers suddenly appeared behind us. I was terrified when I saw them but I did not to run away. The soldiers immediately stopped us.

“The soldiers started to question me in Hebrew and some Arabic but I did not understand what they were saying. The soldiers then checked my hands and took my mobile phone. Then they led me on foot towards the settlement.

“At the gate of the settlement, the soldiers tied my hands to the front with one plastic tie. The tie was tight and painful. They also blindfolded me. Then they took me to the back of a jeep where I sat on a seat. They made one of my friends sit on my lap.

“We remained inside the jeep for about 30 minutes. A soldier asked me whether everything was ok and I told him everything was fine.

“After about 30 minutes, the jeep drove towards a nearby military base. We remained inside the jeep once we arrived at the base. About 15 minutes later the jeep drove to the police station in Etzion settlement.

“At Etzion, I was taken to a courtyard where I sat on the ground. A soldier asked me what I was doing near the settlement and whether we had intended to set fire to tires. I told him we were not doing anything wrong. Then he told me they were waiting for the interrogator to arrive in order to question us.

“I was kept at Etzion for about two hours. During this time, I asked to drink and to use the toilet and the soldiers allowed me to pee in the courtyard while tied and blindfolded.

“After about two hours, some soldiers took me to a jeep and I sat on a seat. The jeep drove for about 30 minutes and then stopped at a hilly area where I was taken out of the jeep and the soldiers made me sit on some rocks for about 10 minutes.

“Then, I was put in a shipping container which had one metal bed. A soldier was there to guard me and my friend. Every now and then a soldier walked in and verbally abused me. He told me I was a ‘fucker son of a whore.’”

“By this time, the blindfold was causing me pain. I asked them to remove it to allow me to use the toilet but they refused. I asked for water and they brought me some. Then the soldier fell asleep and I was able to sleep too.

“Later on, another soldier threatened to lock me up in prison if I did not tell him what I was doing in the area near the settlement. I told him I was not doing anything wrong.

“Then, I was taken back to a jeep which drove to the entrance my village. The soldiers removed the tie and the blindfold and released me. It was around 3am.”

Israel has arrested more than 300 children since the beginning of 2017, 75 percent of whom have endured physical violence during their detention.

(MEMO, PC, Social Media)