Description

Photo:
Osama Shahin (Shaheen) and arrest scene. Credit: AnadoluImages. Published by Friends of Hebron
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By Maya Garner for Friends of Hebron
31 October 2024

On October 31st, Israeli soldiers detained 22 Palestinians from Dura in South Mount Hebron and wrote numbers on their foreheads. Soldiers broke into the home of Osama Shahin and kidnapped him. Along with the other detainees, Shahin was blindfolded, threatened and beaten. Soldiers labeled the Palestinian men by writing numbers on their foreheads with a black market for identification. Disregarding army protocol, the soldiers took Shahin and the other detainees into the home of another Palestinian family for interrogation, mistreatment and intimidation.

The Israeli army has seemingly adopted a new strategy of choosing a specific Palestinian home each raid to use as unofficial army outpost to mistreat and interrogate Palestinian detainees. This contributes to creating an atmosphere of intimidation and a lack of safety for Palestinians, even in their own homes.

The Friends of Hebron field office was once used for a similar purpose before the volunteers of Youth Against Settlements managed to campaign for its return to Palestinian hands.