
A 17-Year-Old from the West Bank Becomes the First Palestinian Teenager to Die in an Israeli Prison
A 17-year-old from the West Bank who was held in an Israeli prison for six months without being charged died after collapsing in unclear circumstances, becoming the first Palestinian teen to die in Israeli detention, officials said.
Walid Ahmad was a healthy high schooler before his arrest in September for allegedly throwing stones at soldiers, his family said. Rights groups have documented widespread abuse in Israeli detention facilities holding thousands of Palestinians who were rounded up after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack ignited the war in the Gaza Strip.
Prison authorities deny any systematic abuse and say they investigate accusations of wrongdoing by prison staff. But the Israeli ministry overseeing prisons acknowledges conditions inside detention facilities have been reduced to the minimum level allowed under Israeli law.
Israel's prison service did not respond to questions about the cause of death. It said only that a 17-year-old from the West Bank had died in Megiddo Prison, a facility that has previously been accused of abusing Palestinian inmates, 'with his medical condition being kept confidential.' It said it investigates all deaths in detention.
Khalid Ahmad, Walid's father, said his son was a lively teen who enjoyed playing soccer before he was taken from his home in the occupied West Bank during a pre-dawn arrest raid.
Six months later, after several brief court appearances during which no trial date was set, Walid collapsed on March 23 in a prison yard and struck his head, dying soon after, Palestinians officials said, citing eyewitness accounts from other prisoners.
The family believes Walid contracted amoebic dysentery from the poor conditions in the prison, an infection that causes diarrhea, vomiting and dizziness — and can be fatal if left untreated.
Walid is the 63rd Palestinian prisoner from the West Bank or Gaza to die in Israeli custody since the start of the war, according to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank. Palestinian prisoner rights groups say that is about one-fifth of the roughly 300 Palestinians who have died in Israeli custody since the 1967 Mideast war, when Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.
The Palestinian Authority says Israel is holding the bodies of 72 Palestinian prisoners who died in Israeli jails, including 61 who died since the beginning of the war.
Conditions in Israeli prisons have worsened since the start of the war, former detainees told The Associated Press. They described beatings, severe overcrowding, insufficient medical care, scabies outbreaks and poor sanitary conditions.
Israel's National Security Ministry, which oversees the prison service and is run by ultranationalist Cabinet Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has boasted of reducing the conditions of Palestinian detainees 'to the minimum required by law.' It says the policy is aimed at deterring attacks.
'Don't worry about me'
Israel has rounded up thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, saying it suspects them of militancy. Many have been held for months without charge or trial in what is known as administrative detention, which Israel justifies as a necessary security measure. Others are arrested on suspicion of aggression toward soldiers but have their trials continuously delayed, as the military and Israel's security services gather evidence.
Walid sat through at least four court appearances over videoconference, his father said, but each time the judge delayed, eventually setting an April 21 trial date. Each session was about three minutes, Walid's father said.
In a February session, four months after Walid was detained, his father noticed that his son appeared to be in poor health.
'His body was weakened due to malnutrition in the prisons in general,' the elder Ahmad said. He said Walid told him he had gotten scabies — a contagious skin rash caused by mites that causes intense itching— but had been cured.
'Don't worry about me,' his father remembers him saying.
Khalid Ahmad later visited his son's friend, a former soccer teammate who had been held with Walid in the same prison. The friend told him Walid had lost weight but that he was OK.
Four days later, the family heard that a 17-year-old had died in the prison. An hour and half later, they got the news that it was Walid.
'We felt the same way as all the parents of the prisoners and all the families and mothers of the prisoners,' said Khalid Ahmad. 'We can only say 'Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to him we shall return.''
Cause of death is unknown
Walid's lawyer, Firas al-Jabrini, said Israeli authorities denied his requests to visit his client in prison. But he says three prisoners held alongside Walid told him that he was suffering from dysentery, saying it was widespread among young Palestinians held at the facility.
They said Walid suffered from severe diarrhea, vomiting, headaches and dizziness, the lawyer said. He said they suspected the disease was spreading because of dirty water, as well as cheese and yogurt that prison guards brought in the morning and that sat out all day while detainees were fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Megiddo, in northern Israel, "is the harshest prison for minors,' al-Jabrini said. He said he was told that rooms designed for six prisoners often held 16, with some sleeping on the floor. Many complained of scabies and eczema.
Thaer Shriteh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority's detainee commission, said Walid collapsed and hit his head on a metal rod, losing consciousness. 'The prison administration did not respond to the prisoners' requests for urgent care to save his life,' he said, citing witnesses who spoke to the commission.
The lawyer and the Palestinian official both said an autopsy is needed to determine the cause of death. Israel has agreed to perform one, but a date has not been set.
'The danger in this matter is that the Israeli occupation authorities have not yet taken any action to stop this (disease) and have not provided any treatment in general to save the prisoners in Megiddo prison,' Shriteh said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Asharq Al-Awsat
7 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israeli Fire Kills 60 in Gaza, Many Near Aid Site, Medics Say
Israeli gunfire and airstrikes killed at least 60 Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, most of them near an aid site operated by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the center of the enclave, local health officials said. Medical officials at Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals said at least 25 people were killed and dozens wounded as they approached a food distribution center near the former Jewish settlement of Netzarim before dawn. Israel's military, which has been at war with Hamas since October 2023, said its forces fired warning shots overnight towards a group of suspects as they posed a threat to troops in the area of the Netzarim Corridor. "This is despite warnings that the area is an active combat zone. The army is aware of reports regarding individuals injured; the details are under review," it said. Later on Wednesday, health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip said at least 14 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire as they approached another GHF site in Rafah. The foundation said it was unaware of Wednesday's incidents but added that it was working closely with Israeli authorities to ensure safe passage routes are maintained, and that it was essential for Palestinians to closely follow instructions. "Ultimately, the solution is more aid, which will create more certainty and less urgency among the population," it said by email in response to Reuters questions. "There is not yet enough food to feed everyone in need in Gaza. Our current focus is to feed as many people as is safely possible within the constraints of a highly volatile environment." In a statement, GHF said it distributed 2.5 million meals on Wednesday, the largest single-day delivery since it began operations, bringing to more than 16 million the number of meals provided since its operations started in late May. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says that since then, 163 Palestinians had been killed and over 1,000 wounded trying to obtain the food boxes. The United Nations has condemned the killings and has refused to supply aid via the foundation, which uses private contractors with Israeli military backup in what they say is a breach of humanitarian standards. Elsewhere in Gaza on Wednesday, its health ministry said at least 11 other people were killed by separate Israeli gunfire and strikes across the coastal enclave. The war erupted 20 months ago after Hamas-led fighters took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, on October 7, 2023, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign has since killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the densely populated strip, which is home to more than two million people. Most of the population is displaced and malnutrition is widespread. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday there had been "significant progress" in efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, but that it was "too soon" to raise hopes that a deal would be reached. Two Hamas sources told Reuters they did not know about any breakthrough in negotiations.

Al Arabiya
10 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Over 55,000 Palestinians killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza officials
The Palestinian death toll from the 20-month Israel-Hamas war has climbed past 55,000, the Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants, but has said that women and children make up more than half the dead. It's a grim milestone in the war that began with Hamas' attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and shows no sign of ending. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians, because they operate in populated areas. The ministry says 55,104 people have been killed since the start of the war and 127,394 wounded. Many more are believed to be buried under the rubble or in areas that are inaccessible to local medics. The Health Ministry is part of Gaza's government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records. Its tolls from previous conflicts have largely aligned with those of independent experts, though Israel has questioned the ministry's figures. Israeli forces have destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced about 90 percent of its population and in recent weeks have transformed more than half of the coastal territory into a military buffer zone that includes the now mostly uninhabited southern city of Rafah. A 2½-month blockade imposed by Israel when it ended a ceasefire with Hamas raised fears of famine and was slightly eased in May. The launch of a new Israeli and US-backed aid system has been marred by chaos and violence, and the UN says it has struggled to bring in food because of Israeli restrictions, a breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting. Israel accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid, but the UN and aid groups deny there is any systematic diversion of aid to militants. Hamas has suffered major setbacks militarily, and Israel says it has killed more than 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The militants still hold 55 hostages — less than half of them believed to be alive — and control areas outside of military zones despite rare protests earlier this year. The war began when Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages. More than half the captives have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight and recovered the remains of dozens more. Israel's military campaign, one of the deadliest and most destructive since World War II, has transformed large parts of cities into mounds of rubble. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in squalid tent camps and unused schools, and the health system has been gutted, even as it copes with waves of wounded from Israeli strikes. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in return for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal. It has offered to hand over power to a politically independent Palestinian committee. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those terms, saying that Israel will only agree to temporary ceasefires to facilitate the return of hostages. He has vowed to continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is defeated or disarmed and sent into exile. Netanyahu says Israel will control Gaza indefinitely and facilitate what he refers to as the voluntary emigration of much of its population to other countries. The Palestinians and most of the international community reject such plans, viewing them as forcible expulsion that could violate international law.

Al Arabiya
15 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
At least 35 killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza, many near an aid site, medics say
Israeli military strikes killed at least 35 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, most of them at an aid site operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in central Gaza, local health officials said. Medical officials at Shifa and Al-Quds Hospitals said at least 25 people were killed as they approached the aid site near the former settlement of Netzarim, and dozens were wounded. Ten other people were killed in other Israeli military strikes in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave, they added. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. On Tuesday, when Gaza health officials said 17 people were killed near another GHF aid site in Rafah in southern Gaza, the army said it fired warning shots to distance 'suspects' who were approaching the troops and posed a threat. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday there had been 'significant progress' in efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, but that it was 'too soon' to raise hopes that a deal would be reached. Despite efforts by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar to restore a ceasefire in Gaza, neither Israel nor Hamas has shown willingness to back down on core demands, with each side blaming the other for the failure to reach a deal. Two Hamas sources told Reuters they did not know about any new ceasefire offers. The war erupted after Hamas-led militants took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in an October 7, 2023, attack, Israel's single deadliest day. Israel's military campaign has since killed nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and flattened much of the coastal enclave.