'Life in a lit grave': Palestinian teen's ordeal in Israeli prison

Spending more than six months in Israeli jails, 17-year-old Rose Khwais, the youngest female Palestinian held by Israel, was released under a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement.

Israeli authorities released 90 Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, on Sunday night from Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, under the first phase of the ceasefire deal.

Khwais was arrested in May 2024 from the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem and sentenced to 10 years in prison. She was not previously detained before enduring this harsh experience.

"I entered prison in shock, not even knowing what a prison was,” Khwais said upon returning to her home in East Jerusalem.

The young girl, arrested at the age of 16, said she had no knowledge of the Israeli interrogation methods or their harsh tactics.

"I didn't even know what a prison cell looked like. All I had heard about prisons was from other prisoners – that it was a small room with a mattress. But I never expected it to be this bad," she added.

Describing her experience, Khwais said: "Prison means darkness. You don’t see anyone. It’s just a lit grave."

Glimpse of suffering

Khwais recalled various forms of suffering in Israeli detention.

"We were subjected to oppression, including the use of weapons, intimidation, and threats," she said.

She also spoke of violations of privacy, including strip searches, intimidation, and threats of harassment against girls.

"There was actual harassment," she said, citing incidents such as girls returning from solitary confinement with their hijabs (headscarves) removed.

Due to the difficult conditions she endured behind bars, Khwais admitted: "Prison changed many things in me."

The harsh conditions and severe interrogation methods led Khwais to develop health problems, exposing her to challenges far beyond her years in Israeli prisons.

"Prison changed me a lot. After 37 days of interrogation at Al-Maskobiya (an Israeli detention centre in West Jerusalem), I couldn’t endure anymore. On my way to court, under intense pressure, I suddenly found myself in the hospital," she said.

Harrowing health experience

The Palestinian girl described her pains, which included signs of a stroke, fluid around her heart, and blood pressure issues.

"I stayed in the hospital, and when I tried to move, I realised I was cuffed. That’s when I understood I was still in prison."

Even while battling illness and shackles, Khwais worried more about her family’s reaction to her condition than her own suffering.

"I was afraid they would tell my family about my illness, but I still told them to inform my family," she said.

The Israeli response was harsh, with authorities telling her it was “forbidden” and barred her from meeting her lawyer.

Khwais recounted additional hardships, including mistreatment during medical examinations.

"When I needed to be moved to another section for tests, they handled me roughly while I was shackled. One doctor even asked the police officer to call him immediately if my condition worsened," she recalled.

See the sky

Khwais said that despite telling a police officer about her severe pain, he responded by threatening her, saying: "I’ll break your mouth."

The young girl noted that she told him at the time that she intended to report the incident to the court and that she needed medical treatment. The Israeli officer responded by instructing his colleague to "push her with the baton."

"Prison is terrible. Prison is prison," she stressed.

The greatest wish for Palestinian female prisoners, according to Khwais, was to "see the sky."

"The prisoners wanted freedom. We could only see the sky through small squares (a ceiling of interlocked iron wires). We prayed to Allah to let us see the sky without those squares," she said.

Speaking about her first moments after her release on Sunday, Khwais added: "We saw Mount Carmel (Haifa), the sky, and so many other things."