Democrats demand immediate release of Palestinian-American teen held in Israeli prison | Democrats
More than two dozen Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the U.S. ambassador to Israel demanding the immediate release of Mohammed Ibrahim, a 16-year-old Palestinian American who has been held in Israeli military custody for nearly eight months.
Ibrahim, a dual Palestinian-American teenager from Florida, was arrested in a raid on his family’s West Bank home in February when he was 15 years old. Israeli forces allegedly blindfolded and handcuffed the boy at 3 a.m. to the letter It is led by Senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley and representatives Kathy Castor and Maxwell Frost.
“As we have been told repeatedly, ‘the State Department has no higher priority than the security of U.S. citizens abroad,’” the lawmakers wrote. “We share this view and urge you to fulfill this responsibility by contacting the Israeli government directly to ensure the speedy release of this American child.”
The letter follows the Guardian’s initial reporting of Ibrahim’s detention in July, which stated that Ibrahim had lost a significant amount of weight and was suffering from scabies, according to correspondence obtained by the Guardian from the Foreign Office.
The group of 27 lawmakers, including Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Adam Schiff and Raphael Warnock, said it had “serious concerns” about Ibrahim’s treatment and demanded a response by Nov. 3 detailing what efforts the Trump administration had made to secure Ibrahim’s release.
In August, more than 100 U.S. human rights, faith-based and civil rights organizations separately sent their own letters to Rubio demanding Ibrahim’s immediate release. The letter also comes weeks after the Guardian learned the foreign office had appointed a special official to look into Ibrahim’s case.
Rubio is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Thursday for a 48-hour visit, following J.D. Vance who arrived on Tuesday. Rubio’s trip will also include meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Trump envoys Jared Kushner and Steven Witkoff also in the country to discuss the transition to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
According to court documents reviewed by the Guardian, Ibrahim is accused of throwing rocks at Israeli vehicles in two separate incidents in the West Bank, but lawmakers say “no public evidence has been presented to support this allegation”. His family was unable to contact him directly and received updates only through US embassy staff and former detainees.
Lawmakers also point to the March death of Walid Ahmad, a 17-year-old Palestinian who collapsed and died in Megiddo prison after being detained for six months for allegedly throwing stones. His autopsy showed that he died from extreme malnutrition, torture, scabies and denial of medical care. Lawmakers warned that “it is the responsibility of the US government to ensure that this latest tragedy is not repeated with respect to Muhammad.”
One last interview Ibrahim, from Children’s Defense International-Palestine, described receiving “extremely inadequate” meals, consisting of a breakfast consisting of only three small pieces of bread and a spoonful of labneh, and a lunch consisting of half a small cup of undercooked rice, a single sausage and three pieces of bread. “Dinner is not provided and we cannot buy any fruit,” he said.
The Guardian first became aware of the teenager’s case after his 20-year-old American-Palestinian cousin Sayfollah Musallet was allegedly beaten to death by Israeli settlers. To date, no arrests have been made in connection with the murder, although US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, one of the recipients of the new letter, called the incident a “criminal and terrorist act” and demanded that Israel “aggressively investigate the murder.” Huckabee did not speak similarly about Abraham’s arrest.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are subject to Israeli military law and are tried in military courts, where there are well-documented concerns about due process. Ibrahim was prevented from having any contact with the outside world, except for visits by US embassy officials, and his hearings were routinely postponed.
Israel’s prison service did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
