The Electronic Intifada 8 August 2024
An Israeli tank in Gaza City’s Zeitoun district, 26 November 2023.
APA imagesMy cousin Nayaf Ali is 20 years old. He lives in the al-Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, and he told my brother and me this story over the phone.
It was 12 December and the Israeli occupation forces had invaded his neighborhood. Around 30 family members were trapped in their home during this time, as the Israelis had besieged the neighborhood.
The family remained quiet in the house to try to avoid detection by the Israeli forces. They remained in this silent state of terror for three days.
On the fourth day, Israeli bulldozers surrounded the house, and the ground began to shake. Israeli soldiers fired bullets at and around the house, and they hit Nayaf in the foot.
He said he bit down on his lip and swallowed the pain, to keep from shouting. He used a scarf to stop the bleeding. He was more afraid of being discovered by the Israeli forces than from the severity of the wound.
Yet, soon after, the bulldozer struck a wall in their home, and everyone began to scream and panic, especially the children.
It was clear, then, that the family had been discovered, as Israeli forces forcibly entered their home.
They took Nayaf along with the other men into another room. They demanded that they strip down, and some of the men were beaten by the soldiers.
The soldiers were speaking Arabic and English, and they commanded the women and children to leave the home, without any belongings. Some of them were barefoot.
The men were blindfolded and forced into a truck. Nayaf said the cuffs were so tight that they cut into his wrists. He said this was the first time in his life he had ever felt such humiliation.
They were taken to a prison, yet he does not know where it was located exactly.
When he arrived, he asked to see a doctor due to his foot injury, but they refused him.
He was beaten repeatedly, and he saw many other people being beaten.
The food they provided was meager: bread, a slice of cucumber, a slice of tomato. Even water was not freely given.
He said that when he asked one of the guards for water, they told him to open his mouth. He did so, thinking that the guard would pour water into his mouth, but instead the guard spat into his mouth and forced him to swallow it.
The last three days in the prison were the worst, he said. The mental and physical torture reached unbearable levels.
His whole body ached and for the first time, he wished he were dead. Every inch of his body was covered with cuts and bruises.
Finally, after 18 days, he was released. He received treatment for his foot, and luckily the doctors did not have to amputate it.
“The memory of my imprisonment will stay with me forever,” he said.
Shahad Ali is a writer in Gaza.
