Palestinian-American Child Hostage Tells of Horrific Conditions Inside Israeli Torture Camp
Mohammad Ibrahim says he’s barely fed, only permitted outside for 40 minutes a day, and kept in an overcrowded room.
A Palestinian-American child held hostage in Israel’s torture camps says he’s barely fed, only permitted outside for 40 minutes a day, and kept in an overcrowded room, according to Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP.)
On February 16, at about 3 am, between 25 and 30 Israeli soldiers abducted Mohammad Zaher Taysir Ibrahim, a U.S. citizen, from his family’s home in the West Bank. They took him from his bed, and handcuffed and blindfolded him. As they transported him to a military camp, the soldiers beat him with the butts of their rifles, according to DCIP.
Ibrahim had traveled to the West Bank from his home in Florida to visit family. At the time of the abduction, Ibrahim was 15-years-old; he turned 16 in prison. (In July, Israeli settlers beat his 20-year-old cousin, Saif Musallet, to death.)
Since his abduction, Ibrahim has had no contact with his family.
“We haven’t seen Mohammed,” his uncle told WBUR, as per Newsweek. “We haven’t heard his voice. We’ve been denied visits. We’ve been denied phone calls. The U.S. State Department is unable to show us a picture of him.”
Lawmakers and human rights organizations are rallying to demand his immediate release.
On Tuesday, October 22, more than two dozen members of congress wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, urging them to “engag[e] the Israeli government directly to secure the swift release of this American boy.”
Earlier this year, more than 100 organizations signed a letter to Rubio, “demanding that the U.S. government act now to ensure the safe release of Florida child Mohammed Ibrahim, a 16-year-old US citizen, unjustly imprisoned by the Israeli military since February.”
“As a coalition of faith-based, human rights, and civil rights organizations, we stress the urgency of Mohammed’s health and that a child’s life is on the line,” they wrote.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and CAIR-Florida are circulating an Action Alert so people can easily contact President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Rubio, and their representatives in Congress to, “ask President Trump to Act Now - It just takes one call and Mohammed could be.” (Disclosure: The author sent the Action Alert.)
Israel routinely terrorizes, murders, abducts, and tortures Palestinian children. Since 2023, Israeli forces have killed or maimed 64,00 children in Gaza, and an unknown number have died “due to preventable illnesses or are buried under the rubble,” according to UNICEF.
As a result of Israel’s genocide, Gaza is now home to the largest population of child amputees per capita in the world. Hundreds of children, like Ibrahim, are held hostage in Israel’s torture camps.
In September, an attorney with DCIP met with Ibrahim at Ofer military prison. Ibrahim told the attorney that they’re permitted outside for just 40 minutes a day. His room has four bunk beds — eight people sleep in the beds and “the remaining children” sleep on mattresses on the floor, he said. They receive two blankets, “yet we still feel cold at night.”
Ibrahaim said that there are no heating or cooling systems in the room, which only has the mattresses, blankets, and one copy of the Quran.
They’re provided with very little food, he said. For breakfast, they’re served “three tiny pieces of bread along with a mere spoonful of labneh,” and for lunch they’re given “half a small cup of undercooked, dry rice, a single sausage, and three small pieces of bread.” There is no dinner.
Every two or three days, they receive “a small spoonful” of jam, and occasionally they’re given “a small cucumber and a tiny tomato,” he said.
During his captivity, Ibrahim has reportedly lost over 30 pounds and contracted scabies.
“Not even an American passport can protect Palestinian children,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, the accountability program director at DCIP, in a statement. “Despite his family’s advocacy in Congress and involvement of the U.S. embassy, Mohammad remains in Israeli prison.”
Eqtaish continued, “Despite obligations under U.S. and international law, the American government either doesn’t have the will or the power to help Mohammad, and continues to send Israel weapons with no restrictions.”
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Photo by Mohammed Ibrahim on Unsplash.