In her second interview, Australian citizen journalist Jude Alexander spoke via text message with Dr Mohammed Hamad, who is living in a tent in Gaza with his wife and five children aged between 8 and 15.
Before Israel launched its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, Dr Hamad was working as a continuing education supervisor in clinical nutrition and as a university lecturer. In the following interview, he speaks about his arrest and detention by Israeli authorities in January, 2024.
The full interview transcript was first published on Medium and has been edited and abridged. Read the first interview here.
* * *
What were you doing on October 7, 2023?
On October 7, at 6am, I was asleep in my home in Beit Hanoun. It was my day off from work — I was working as a medical specialist and lecturer. My wife was preparing breakfast for my children to go to school, when I woke up to extremely intense bombing. I prevented my children from leaving for school.
My family and I lived in the far north of the Gaza Strip. At the beginning of the war, there was bombing everywhere. There were dead people in the streets and no one to help the wounded. The scene was indescribable, everyone was running for their lives, everyone left all their belongings, they even left the bodies of the dead as they fled.
We couldn’t escape until one o’clock in the morning. We walked to escape the city of Beit Hanoun. We left everything we owned.
My family and I were going into the unknown. We had nothing left, everything had become rubble and destruction. While we were fleeing, I fell to the ground in the middle of the street. I was suffering from an irregular heartbeat, and I had a panic attack due to the intensity of the scenes I saw.
How long did your family have to walk that night?
Eight kilometres at night, without any lights. Almost two hours.
I told my kids not to be afraid, that we would be back in a few days. I expected there to be heavy bombing for a few days, negotiations to release the hostages and the war to end…
Initially, we were displaced to my relatives in the centre of Gaza City. However, on October 14, after the outbreak of the war, the Israeli army requested the evacuation of Gaza City.
How did you come to be at the UNRWA camp, and how long did you spend there?
I went to a training centre affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.
[After] the Israeli army requested the evacuation of Gaza City, [we] stayed at the camp from October 14, 2023 to January 25, 2024 … living in a tent inside the shelter centre. Those were difficult days. The place was not prepared to receive 40,000 displaced people.
So how were your family at this time?
They were suffering from extreme panic and fear. Every day we heard about the killing of a relative or friend … we didn’t have internet or electricity, and there were too many people in a small place.
Our life was hell, believe me I can’t describe it … I had to stand for hours just to be able to go to the bathroom. Queues for the bathroom, queues for water.
Were you working as a doctor while at the camp?
On January 24, 2024, the shelter was besieged and bombed, resulting in the deaths and injuries of dozens inside the camp. The Israeli military asked us to evacuate and head to Rafah. I worked to treat the wounded inside the centre, but the area was not equipped for the work.
Upon leaving, everyone was searched and entered through a fingerprint and facial recognition machine. Since I work in the health sector, they definitely had my data.
What happened when you got to Rafah?
When I left the UNRWA shelter, my family and I walked about 3 kilometres. There was an army checkpoint. The army sorted the men and let them enter through a checkpoint for inspection. The women and children were allowed to enter from another place.
Here I parted from my family. I had a bag containing my money and personal papers, and I had my personal mobile phone and my wife’s and son’s mobile phone. I was very scared.
The army asked me to leave my bag and go into a place equipped with cameras. They asked me to come and leave my personal belongings. I didn’t know what happened to my family and my family didn’t know what happened to me. They brought me to a place where there are a lot of men.
They asked me to take off all my clothes, even my underwear. They took pictures of me naked.
Until now, whenever I remember the situation, I cry. Because they photographed me naked and they laughed and mocked me. I told them I didn’t do anything, I’m innocent, I’m sick. I have an irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure and chronic colitis.
They told me that all of Gaza is the elite, and that all of Gaza is Hamas, and they started beating me.
What did they mean when they said "all Gaza is the elite"?
The biggest men in Hamas call themselves the elite. I told them that I do not belong to that organisation.
After beating me, they dressed me in a white outfit similar to a coronavirus protective outfit, blindfolded me, handcuffed my hands behind my back, and made me sit on my knees on the gravel.
Did you think you were about to die? What were your last thoughts?
The feeling came to me a lot, and I surrendered to death.
I was just thinking about my kids. It was cold, and I was scared.
Unfortunately, one of the detainees, who was next to me, passed away. I heard his voice as if the soul was leaving his body. Some soldiers rushed and examined him. One of the soldiers said that he had passed away.
After that, they put us in a place where there were a lot of detainees, they threw us at each other.
One of the soldiers grabbed me and put my head in his hands. He threw me in a truck, my hands and feet were tied and my eyes were blindfolded. I couldn’t see anything, only the beating continued.
It was raining and very cold, and I think the trip lasted two days, without going to the bathroom, or eating or drinking. After that, we arrived at the border … between Khan Yunis and Israel.
[I lifted my blindfold a little and] I saw a city bulldozed and destroyed.
When one of the soldiers saw me with my eyes uncovered, he kicked me with his feet. He took me to the interrogation room, hit me on the neck and back with a sharp object until I lost consciousness.
Tell me about the chicken coop.
We arrived at the detention center, which looked like a chicken coop. They dressed us in new clothes, handcuffed my hands in front of me, and replaced the blindfold with a new one.
There were about 100 detainees.
We were forced to sleep on a very light pillow and a very light blanket. All is very bad and little, the water was from the bathroom tap.
We would go to sleep at 11pm and wake up at 5am. While sleeping, they deliberately scream and turn on the lights. We were not allowed to lift the blindfold while sleeping. There was one bathroom for every 100 detainees.
I was investigated once, but no charges were brought against me. The investigation was focused on where I was on October 7 and whether I knew people who participated in October 7. The investigation was superficial, I felt the arrests were random and without charge. Among the detainees were elderly men and children.
This detention was in Israel. I was transferred to three detention centres, and after 47 days I was released.
What was your state of mind while being detained?
My psychological state was shattered. I did not talk to anyone inside the prison because it was forbidden to talk. I was in a lot of pain.
What kept you going?
I remembered my children, my wife and my sisters and cried.
How bad were your injuries?
My shoulder was bruised and I am still receiving treatment. I have a slipped disc in my back and neck. I asked for treatment, but they gave me heart medication and did not treat me for the effects of the torture.
I underwent treatment after I got out of prison and I have been taking the treatment for a year now. I need surgery but there is no surgery in Gaza now.
Please tell me about getting out.
The investigator told me that I would be released as soon as possible, and I was released, thank God.
When I left, I thought the war was over, but until now I dream that this genocide will end.
[Dr Hamad’s fundraising page can be found at chuffed.org/project/129482-help-me-save-my-family.]