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A Palestinian journalist has said he was beaten, blindfolded and handcuffed with zip ties after being taken from his village by a group of Israeli soldiers in a horrific six hour ordeal - before being released without charge.
Mohammad Hesham, 23, was seized from his village of at-Tuwani and ordered onto his knees before being driven to Susya military base in Masafer Yatta, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.
Over a six-hour period, Mr Hesham told The Independent he was spat on, abused, and told he would die in custody. He says his treatment worsened after the troops took his phone and discovered he was a journalist and activist.
“It was terrifying,” he says ten days on from the incident. “It was crazy. It was really tough for me, especially after they knew that I was a journalist. That was a nightmare.”
The Israeli military said Hesham was arrested “after approaching an Israeli community in the southern Hebron Hills in a suspicious manner”. It said he was “held for several hours and subsequently released”, adding: “IDF soldiers are authorized to detain suspects for six hours.”
