Israeli raids and arrests in southern Syria push population to the brink

Qatana, Syria – In the living room of his home, Ahmed explains in a low voice how he was beaten and tortured in an Israeli prison after he was arrested at a checkpoint the Israeli military had set up on the street in his village in Syria. “They stopped me, they asked for my name, asked where I’m from,” he says. “I gave my name and village. They said, ‘You need to come with us for five minutes, and we’ll bring you back.'” He says he then spent more than one year detained in Israel. For 90 days, he was in handcuffs and describes being thrown to the cell floor, beaten with sticks while restrained with his hands behind his back.