Ali’s Story: The Arrest and Torture of a Jerusalemite Child for a Crime He Did Not Commit

“I was beaten in my own home. I was arrested in my own home.”

On November 25, 2024, 13-year-old Ali Zamaereh was beaten and violently arrested at his home by Israeli police.1 The eighth-grade boy was taken to the Russian Compound (al-Moskobiyya) prison in Jerusalem, where he was brutally beaten throughout his seven-day detention. Ali was told, “You are not going home, you’re a danger to Israel,” to which he repeatedly responded, “What danger to Israel? I’ve done nothing.”2

The soldiers showed Ali videos and photos of “an incident” and tried to force him to admit to acts he did not commit. When he reported the beatings in a court hearing, the soldiers continued to beat and torture him as revenge. The constant torture landed him to the small prison infirmary several times, where, Ali relayed, “They did blood tests and brought me back exactly where I was. A soldier would kick me as I entered the room.”

Ali was detained in a small room, with no access to personal hygiene supplies or sufficient food for survival. The air-conditioning in the room was intentionally left on by police on duty to make the room frigid and further torment the prisoners at a time of year when winter conditions prevail in the city, with raw, chilly, and damp weather being the norm.

Ali did not confess. Rather, he denied all the accusations, and in the end, no charges were filed against him.

On December 2, 2024, Ali was released from the Russian Compound prison under the condition of indefinite house arrest, payment of an initial bail amount of NIS 5,000 (around $1,400), as well as signing a commitment to make a future NIS 20,000 (around $5,500) bail payment. He is detained at home in al-Tur along with his family members, who are forbidden from leaving their home under any circumstance. Due to this, 13-year-old Ali is currently deprived of attending school, learning, taking important exams, and seeing extended family and friends or having any social life. Ali must remain under house arrest until the case is closed by the court.

Ali’s case is only one of thousands in Jerusalem. Between 2015 and 2019, Israel arrested 3,388 Jerusalemite children under the age of 18,3 several of whom face everlasting legal, personal, and emotional consequences. In Jerusalem Story’s interview with Ali, he said, “They ruined our future, they ruined our education, they ruined our habits.” He describes himself as “anxious,” “paranoid of people around him,” and “suffocated as he can’t see his friends or peers.” His parents say Ali now sleep talks—a habit he developed following his torture. As of December 3, 2024, the date of our interview with Ali, he remains on indefinite house arrest, awaiting a court hearing for something he did not do.