Family pleads for release of Palestinian-American teen held in Israeli prison

The Guardian

01-08-2025

The family of a 16-year-old dual American-Palestinian citizen is trying to secure his release from an Israeli prison where he has been held in detention for more than five months and where they say he has lost a significant amount of weight and developed a severe skin infection.
Muhammad Zaher Ibrahim was still 15 when he was arrested at his family's home in the occupied West Bank village of Silwad in February. According to relatives, he was blindfolded and handcuffed before being taken to the Megiddo prison in Israel, where he remains in pre-trial detention accused of throwing rocks – accusations his family denies.
Muhammad, the youngest of five, lives in the West Bank but his family splits their time between the village and Palm Bay, Florida. His father, Zaher Ibrahim, reached out to Republican congressman Mike Haridopolos from their home state of Florida in March, pleading for help after more than 45 days without contact with his son.
'The Megiddo Prison is notorious for brutality and suffering,' Zaher Ibrahim wrote in a form he sent to Haridopolos that has been viewed by the Guardian. 'We are kindly asking for some support in this matter. We have exhausted all efforts locally here in Israel and have no other option than to ask our local Florida office officials to reach out on our behalf.'
Haridopolos's office confirmed it had been contacted about Muhammad Ibrahim and said it had shared the family's information with the state department. The office said it had been informed that the US embassy in Israel was 'following standard procedures'. A spokesperson for the state department said in a statement there is 'no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens'.
The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to queries about the allegations against Ibrahim, directing questions to the Israel Prison Service, which manages the Megiddo prison. The IPS has not responded to requests for comment.
The Guardian first became aware of Muhammad Ibrahim's detention through reporting on his cousin Sayfollah Musallet, a 20-year-old dual US-Palestinian citizen allegedly beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank earlier in July while visiting relatives.
Ibrahim is one of hundreds of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention, where advocates say even US citizenship offers little protection from a system that routinely holds minors for extended periods without charge or family contact during proceedings that can drag on for months.
'Palestinian children in Israeli prisons are totally disconnected from the outside world,' Ayed Abu Eqtaish, the West Bank-based accountability program director at Defense for Children International-Palestine said. 'They will not recognize whether you are American, Somalian or whatever your citizenship.'
US embassy officials have conducted welfare checks on Muhammad Ibrahim since his detention but have faced restrictions in recent weeks, according to an email sent by a state department official to the family. Zaher, Muhammad's father, said he was informed by the embassy after an early visit that his son appeared to have lost 12kg (26lb) in the spring. In mid-July, the state department informed the family in an email seen by the Guardian that Ibrahim was suffering from scabies, a contagious skin infection caused by mites, and was receiving medical treatment, and said US officials would visit once he recovered.
Local staff with the state department did not comment on Ibrahim's health or whether they've been able to see him since, but in a statement a spokesperson told the Guardian the department 'works to provide consular assistance which may include visiting detained US citizens to ensure they have access to necessary medication or medical attention and facilitating authorized communications with their family or others'.
Ibrahim's lawyer did not return a request for comment to clarify the status of the case against him, but a video seen by the Guardian of Ibrahim's interrogation while in detention shows Israeli officials questioning the teenager over rock-throwing in Silwad. He did not appear to have a lawyer present.
As of March 2025, 323 Palestinian children between the ages of 12 and 17 were being held in Israeli military detention, according to data from the Defense for Children International-Palestine. According to a 2011 report from B'Tselem, 835 Palestinian minors between the ages of 12 and 17 were tried on stone-throwing charges in military courts between 2005 and 2010, and only one minor was acquitted. A majority of the minors would receive sentences of longer than four months.
Since Hamas's 7 October attacks and Israel's subsequent bombardment of Gaza, conditions for Palestinian detainees from both Gaza and the West Bank have deteriorated significantly. Advocates say military prosecutors have now become less willing to negotiate plea deals that might lead to earlier releases.
'After October 2023, the situation was harsher,' Abu Eqtaish said. 'Now they are stricter in punishment and sentences. We encounter problems knowing about living conditions inside prisons. There's no family presence. Lawyer visits are very restricted.'