Prisoner No 39: A Palestinian woman’s sufferings in Israeli detention

Hanady Halawani has been jailed so many times that the Palestinian activist has lost count. She has been imprisoned for such long durations that she has achieved a Zen-like indifference to her fate.

But even for this 44-year-old battle-hardened activist, the 12 hours she spent at the Al Moscobiyeh prison in occupied East Jerusalem seemed like a never-ending wait for freedom.

Israeli troops barged into her home in occupied East Jerusalem on October 9 and detained the mother of four– two days after Hamas fighters launched an unprecedented cross-border operation against Israel.

After spending 53 days behind bars, she was selected for release along with 14 other Palestinian women during the sixth phase of a tense hostage swap deal between Israel and Hamas, which took place during the weeklong ceasefire in Gaza in the last week of November.

On November 28, Halawani was transferred from Damon Prison in Haifa to Al Moscobiyeh for her release. She waited, overwhelmed by uncertainty, expectation and exhaustion — it would take another 12 hours for her to walk free.

In an exclusive interview with TRT World, Halawani revealed details of her incarceration, the brutality of Israeli soldiers and prison officers and how she became a mere number among hundreds of Palestinian detainees — prisoner no. 39.

Though this is her story, it is also the story of every Palestinian woman arrested by Israel over the years. The story of the unyielding, defiant Palestinian women fighting for freedom and justice in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank.

Israeli brutality

Since October 7, Israel has bombed Gaza indiscriminately and launched a brutal ground offensive that has left more than 20,000 people dead, most of them children and women.

The Israeli attacks on Gaza have reduced the besieged Palestinian enclave into a dystopian wasteland strewn with concrete rubble and twisted metal – with residential premises, hospitals, educational institutions and mosques levelled to the ground.

The Netanyahu government has rejected growing international calls to halt the operations and even refused to negotiate with Hamas for the release of the remaining Israelis and foreigners held hostage by the resistance group.

At the same time, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have seen a sharp rise in the number of attacks by illegal settlers and arbitrary arrests by Israeli troops.

While the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners, all women and children, has stirred bittersweet emotions among the crushed families across the occupied West Bank, it also shone a light on the never-ending plight of Palestinians, grappling with mass detentions under the Israeli justice system that tries them in military courts.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, a staggering 7,200 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons - among them are 250 children aged 17 and below. Data also reveal that at least four in 10 Palestinian men spend some period of their lives behind bars.

For Halawani, the ongoing conflict has seen Israeli brutality at new levels.

"(The arrest) this time was different from before because it was in a state of war, and the arrest did not adhere to the law from the first moment," Halawani says. When Israeli forces stormed Halawani's house in occupied East Jerusalem, she was with her two children, her daughter Alaa, who had given birth just 12 days ago, and her 15-year-old son Hamza.

As a member of the mourabitoun of Al Aqsa Mosque, a group of Palestinian women dedicated to safeguarding the sacred premises from settler and soldier violence, Halawani has seen Israeli atrocities countless times.

"(But) the search resembled more of vandalism than a lawful procedure, involving breaking and destroying everything in the house," she says.

"I was not allowed to wear my hijab, neither was my daughter. They spat on my face and cursed the Prophet Muhammad. They assaulted my daughter, targeting the site of her caesarean section. Her days-old infant was subjected to a thorough inspection. My son was also beaten."

Halawani was shifted to the Al Qashla Investigation Centre in Jerusalem, where she was charged with incitement —specifically for 'publishing inflammatory content' on Facebook.

Halawani says she was strip-searched by a female Israeli soldier who forcibly removed her hijab and refused to return it. "My hair was exposed in front of the occupation police and officers to humiliate me and insult my religious sensitivity."

"Male officers used electric batons to beat, choke, and kick me. They even threatened me with rape."

Prison horror

After a traumatic first day at the interrogation centre and two subsequent days of relentless questioning in a cramped room at another prison, Halawani was shifted once again, this time to Damon jail, where she was slated to remain for a year and a day in detention, pending court ruling.

"When I arrived," she recalls, "the number of female prisoners at Damon stood at 38. I was designated prisoner No. 39."

However, a few days before her release, the number surged to 93 – signalling a dramatic rise in Israeli military crackdown on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, resulting in a wave of mass arrests and detentions.

Since October 7, more than 3,200 Palestinians have been arrested, according to the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, adding to the 5,200 already held.

Besides, a record-high number of 2,873 Palestinians are in administrative detention, held indefinitely behind bars without facing trial or charges, as reported by the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, an advocacy group citing Israeli Prison Service data.

Damon prison, originally constructed to accommodate 51 prisoners, became an excruciating example of this grim reality. Halawani describes the condition of her cell that had to house 11 women, yet furnished with only six mattresses and very light blankets. This scarcity forced five of them to sleep on the floor.

"But the choice of who among us would sleep on the floor was not easy," Halawani explains, noting the presence of pregnant and elderly women, some in their 60s.

Daily struggles

Already suffering from anaemia, low blood pressure, and stiffness in her neck and lower back, Halawani's health worsened during her detention due to the inhumane conditions of imprisonment.

"The impact of detention is both psychological and physical," she shares. “The fear of threats and of what the occupier can do leads to anxiety, which manifested in our bodies, causing irritable bowel syndrome and stomach pain.”

Despite needing medical assistance and medication, Halawani’s requests were repeatedly denied.

"I was receiving treatment before, but they did not give me the medicine at all, under the pretext that my medication has a high percentage of anaesthetics and, therefore, not allowed in prison," she says.

Halawani's experience is just one example of the medical neglect rampant in Israeli prisons, affecting women detainees both during their confinement and after their release.

According to a study by the non-governmental Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Addameer, in 2008, approximately 38 percent of Palestinian female prisoners suffer from treatable diseases that go untreated due to the inadequate medical attention provided.

"I was not even provided with clean water and sufficient or healthy food, let alone medication," Halawani adds.

The food provided by the prison administration, she says, was almost spoiled and of very low quality. The prison administration tightly controlled the food supply, bringing in small quantities that were grossly inadequate for the number of prisoners present.

"Even though I had the right to at least a toothbrush, a small towel, and clothing, the prison administration did not give me anything," Halawani says.

Left with no alternative, she sought help from other female prisoners for clothes and cleaning supplies. However, when the prison administration discovered this, they raided Halawani's cell, confiscating all her possessions, including clothes, shoes, cleaning supplies, and even food.

These raids involved physical violence, including the use of fists, pepper spray, and tear gas. Then, the administration would further punish the detainees with solitary confinement.

"In those moments, I felt like I was the strong one who could help the other women, even though I was experiencing the same pain,” Halawani recalls. “This made me feel like a mother figure among them, even if I wasn't the eldest. I wanted to help the oldest and the youngest, the sick and the frightened child.”

"This collective feeling that our distress is one, that the oppression is one under an unjust prison keeper, made us feel like a family inside the prison cell, even though the occupation tried to isolate us from our families.

This is the only beautiful thing I remember."

Throughout her 53-day detention, Halwani was subjected to solitary confinement three times, each time in a small, foul-smelling room resembling a toilet.

Acts of faith

In addition to the total deprivation of all basic necessities, Palestinians inside Israeli prisons suffer from systematic ill-treatment, daily humiliation, and both psychological and physical violence.

She reveals that amid this profound isolation, Halawani found solace in her faith. "I spent my time in worship, engaging in daily and nightly prayers and fasting. I turned to God a lot."

Despite the challenging circumstances, Halawani took on the role of teacher in prison.

"One of the positive things I felt I accomplished is waking the girls up for prayers, especially the dawn prayer, since there are no clocks in prison. With my background as a Quran teacher, I taught a 64-year-old woman to read the Quran, guided other inmates in reciting its verses, and aided another woman in memorising passages."

When asked what she anticipated most about freedom, Halawani responds unequivocally, "My family."

During her long incarceration, she was completely cut off from her family. Visits were not allowed, and court proceedings took place through video conferencing.

However, her eagerly awaited reunion with her family unfolded amidst the most unusual circumstances.

On the day of her release, Israeli forces sealed off her neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem. They encircled her house, preventing any family member from approaching; they even closed down all the shops in the vicinity to quell any welcome gestures and expelled all journalists from the scene.

"I was surprised that a car from the occupation intelligence was waiting for me at the prison door. A policewoman in civilian clothes handcuffed me, even after my release," Halawani recalls.

Upon arriving home, the Israeli policewoman climbed the stairs, rang the doorbell, and her children eagerly opened the door. “But I wasn’t allowed to hug them,” Halawani says.

The Israeli forces ensured that no one was recording the moment and threatened her with returning to prison if she expressed joy in her newfound freedom. "They led me from one intelligence officer to another, with threats not to appear in the media, not to make a statement, not to carry flags, or even to celebrate, whether small or large, in my home."

The Israeli government imposed several stringent conditions on released prisoners and their families, prohibiting them from speaking to the press, receiving guests at home or distributing sweets in celebration.

Violating these rules could result in a hefty fine of about 70,000 shekels ($18,740), as the Palestinian Prisoners' Club reported in a statement.

"These moments in which they tried to kill my and my family's joy, the loneliness in the moment of being reunited with my family… These are also among the moments in which you are oppressed, forced not to express your happiness, even for a moment, when you meet your close family," Halawani says.