My first day as a prisoner in Israel’s Al-Naqab prison
Mujahed Bani Mufleh writes in The New Arab on 3 November 2026:
The August heat was at its fiercest, with barely any air coming through the cell’s tiny window. The humidity was suffocating, nibbling at what was left of our tolerance.
Malek, the prison nurse, came up to me and asked, “Do you have scabies?” I said no. The moment he turned his back, my cellmates shouted: “Why did you tell him you don’t have it? They will transfer you to another prison now!”
Right before sunrise on the second day, prison authorities raided the place. They handcuffed our hands behind our backs and ordered us to gather our bedsheets and mattresses, where we hid the few belongings we had: a cup, a plate, and a spoon.
We were tied for hours during the inspection, in unbearably hot weather, with tens of other Palestinian prisoners crowded into one room. We were forced into brown Israeli prison uniforms – known as Shabbass – which were even more uncomfortable in the summer heat. Then we entered the prison bus.
We were then beaten. Cheeks swelled, eyes blackened, and teeth were knocked out. It wasn’t merely a transfer from one prison to another; it was another stop in the long line of humiliation and punishment that we were being subjected to.
As the bus drove us from Megiddo prison to Kishon Interrogation Centre (Jalama), we were given no water, let alone food. When we eventually got off the bus, we were surrounded by tens of armed Israeli soldiers. We walked, handcuffed, with large police dogs trying to bite us. They beat us every step of the way.