With her body, she protected him from bullets.. A Palestinian mother refuses to leave her son alone during his arrest in Jenin

In a scene that embodies the highest meanings of motherhood and sacrifice, Palestinian citizen Sanaa Zakarna refused to let her son, Izz al-Din Abu Maala, face his fate alone at the hands of the occupation forces. At one o'clock in the morning, the family received a call from an Israeli intelligence officer demanding that the young man surrender immediately during the invasion of the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin. The mother then set off with her son in the darkness of the night, trying to protect him with her body.

Sanaa rushed ahead of her son, making herself a human shield for fear of him being subjected to direct gunfire by the heavily armed soldiers who spread through the town's alleys. Sources confirmed that the mother insisted on staying by her son's side throughout his detention in one of the houses that the army had converted into a field interrogation center, defying military orders to stay away.

Inside the interrogation center, the mother endured difficult moments as she heard the screams of her son and his cousin as a result of the severe beating and abuse they were subjected to behind closed doors. Sanaa did not remain silent; instead, she engaged in a heated verbal altercation with the responsible officer, accusing them of violating international and humanitarian laws by torturing an unarmed detainee who had only been released a few days prior.

Izz al-Din, who spent seven years of his childhood and youth behind bars, had only enjoyed freedom for one week before the occupation pursued him again on charges described by the officer as 'serious.' The mother responded to these allegations with strong condemnation, asserting that her son had not left the house since his release, and that this pursuit was only aimed at breaking his will and re-abusing him.

This incident comes amid an escalation in arrests in the West Bank, where Prisoner's Club data indicates that the total number of prisoners in occupation prisons has jumped to more than 9,600 male and female prisoners by early April 2026. These figures represent a record increase of 83% compared to the situation before the outbreak of the genocide war, reflecting a systematic arrest policy.

Human rights reports indicate that prisons currently hold about 86 female prisoners and 350 children, living in harsh conditions lacking the most basic human necessities. The number of martyrs from the prisoner movement has also risen to 326 martyrs since 1967, including 89 martyrs who died as a result of torture and deliberate medical neglect since the start of the recent aggression on the Gaza Strip.

The tragedy is not limited to known prisoners but extends to dozens of detainees from the Gaza Strip who are still subject to enforced disappearance in unknown camps. Human rights sources confirm that these detainees face an unknown fate without any legal representation or visits from the Red Cross, amid serious fears for their lives given recurring news of some of them being martyred under torture.

The story of Sanaa Zakarna and her son Izz al-Din summarizes the reality of thousands of Palestinian families living between the hammer of arrest and the anvil of fear for their fate. While the occupation continues its military campaigns in West Bank cities, the Palestinian mother remains the first line of defense for her children, trying to snatch their right to life and freedom from the jaws of the jailer.

My soul before my son's soul, and my life before his life, for there is nothing harder than a mother hearing her son being tortured and remaining silent.