‘I felt my heart leave my body’: Lebanese citizens accuse Israel of torture during detention under ceasefire

Ahmad and Moustafa Rizk were among seven Lebanese detainees held by the Israeli army as they attempted to return to south Lebanon

Ahmad Rizk says he was held by the Israeli army for three days during which he was physically and verbally abused and denied access to food or water. Matt Kynaston / The National

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After the deadline passed for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon under the terms of a ceasefire agreement reached in November, Moustafa Rizk and his father, Ahmad, decided to check on their properties in the border town of Houla.

“It’s been a year since we last set foot in our village – a year of killings, martyrdom and destruction. The ceasefire agreement expired, khalas – we were excited to go back,” Moustafa told The National.

What the father and son did not know was that Israeli tanks were still in Houla. Their attempt to return home would lead to their detention, along with five others, in what they describe as brutal conditions at an Israeli military base on the Lebanon-Israel border.

“They beat me with their hands and a stick. I felt my soul leave my body. They interrogated me three times, each session lasting three hours. We were freezing cold – no food, no water, no sleep,” Moustafa said, his wrist still bearing the marks from being tied for hours.

The Israeli army, in a written response to a request for comment, stated that it is "operating in southern Lebanon and will act to remove any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens, while adhering to the understanding agreements".

It added that "on January 26, several gatherings occurred in southern Lebanon, in which suspects approached IDF and Lebanese Army forces. As part of these events, there were several attempts to approach IDF forces. To eliminate the threat, the forces carried out warning fire, in accordance with procedures and without harming the gatherers. During that day, two suspects who approached IDF forces were arrested and suspected of involvement in terrorist activity".

The army explained that the suspects "were taken for interrogation and released shortly after their involvement in terrorist activity was ruled out".

Moustafa Rizk says he was beaten by Israeli soldiers and interrogated for three hours at a stretch. Matt Kynaston / The National.

Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement – mediated by the US and France – that ended 14 months of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, the Lebanese army is to move to the south of the country. Hezbollah is also to pull back its forces north of the Litani River as the Israeli army withdraws over a 60-day period. It has occupied villages in the south since October.

As the withdrawal deadline loomed, the Lebanese army accused Israel of “procrastinating”. On January 26, thousands – including Moustafa Rizk and his father – defied Israeli warnings to stay away from the border, and set out to return home. Israeli forces killed 22 people and injured 124 others as they tried to approach their houses in the south.

Among the killed were Moustafa’s 30 year-old cousin and two of his neighbours. “Israeli soldiers started shooting at us once we approached Houla,” Moustafa recalled. He said the group, seven unarmed men including a 19-year-old, took refuge in a garage, where they were eventually found by Israeli soldiers.

Father and son said they were dragged outside, lined up, forced to undress, tied by their legs, blindfolded, and put in a car that took them to what they were told was a military centre at Margaliot, near the Lebanon-Israel border.

An Israeli army tank blocks the entrance to the southern Lebanese village of Houla on January 27. AFP

Violence and humiliation

At the military site, soldiers reportedly accused the small group of belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, which they firmly denied. Moustafa works in a jewellery store, while his father Ahmad is a civil servant.

In separate interviews with The National, the father and son described being physically and verbally abused, and deprived of food, water and sleep. They said they were left on a bench in a cold room for days, their hands tied behind their backs. During repeated interrogations, they were beaten and insulted.

Ahmad, who has high blood pressure, says he was also denied access to medication. “I thought that if my father stayed one more day, he would die because he has diabetes and can’t go long without eating,” Moustafa said.

He added: “Every time we tried to sleep, they would wake us up. They put a speaker right next to us and blasted Hebrew music. I didn’t sleep for 48 hours.”

Ahmad said they were allowed to use the bathroom only three times in three days. “They were playing mind games with us,” Moustafa said. “They told me they would send me to Mossad for interrogation. That’s when I started freaking out – my heart left my body. Everyone knows what they’re capable of in terms of torture. If they took me, I knew I wouldn’t come back.”

Ahmad said he ended up making a false admission to being a commander in the Radwan forces after soldiers threatened to kill his son. “I was scared they would torture him in front of me, so I told them yes,” he said. "All I cared about was my son – I wanted to protect him. I knew they were capable of killing, so I accepted all what they said."

Moustafa Rizk shows the marks on his hands from his detention by Israeli troops. Matt Kynaston / The National

Wadih Al Asmar, head of the EuroMed Rights human rights network and the Lebanese Centre for Human Rights, said: “This is an arbitrary detention by UN standards: the Israeli army has no jurisdiction in Lebanon. These were civilians, and their abduction was carried out by a military force whose presence in Lebanon is illegal, outside the context of combat."

He said that even if the Israeli accusations against Ahmad and Moustafa were true, they would be considered prisoners of war and would still be protected under the Geneva Conventions.

The allegations of torture and ill-treatment echo reports of Israeli detentions in Gaza. According to a report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Israel has arbitrarily detained thousands of Palestinians during the war in Gaza and is accused of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

Ahmad and Moustafa were freed after two and a half days in detention, as part of a deal to extend the withdrawal deadline until February 18 in exchange for the release of nine Lebanese prisoners. They said Israeli soldiers released them in the town of Merkaba. “They told us, ‘If you come back to Houla, we will kill you.’”

A Hezbollah source said none of the detainees were fighters with the group. Neither Unifil, the peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, nor the Israeli army responded to a request for comment.

Other Lebanese prisoners arrested during the truce remain in detention in Israel. Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, has called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to help secure the release of nine more Lebanese detainees. Moustafa and Ahmad Rizk said that one of the men taken with them was still being held.

Both father and son say they were arbitrarily arrested. “I was only asking for my rights – it’s my land. They have no right to be there,” Moustafa said. “If someone knocks on your door and says, ‘This is my house,’ would you just give it to them?”