JERUSALEM — A 17-year-old from the West Financial institution who was held in an Israeli jail for six months with out being charged died after collapsing in unclear circumstances, changing into the primary Palestinian teen to die in Israeli detention, officers mentioned.
Walid Ahmad was a wholesome excessive schooler earlier than his arrest in September for allegedly throwing stones at troopers, his household mentioned. Rights teams have documented widespread abuse in Israeli detention facilities holding 1000’s of Palestinians who have been rounded up after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault ignited the war in the Gaza Strip.
Jail authorities deny any systematic abuse and say they examine accusations of wrongdoing by jail employees. However the Israeli ministry overseeing prisons acknowledges situations inside detention amenities have been lowered to the minimal degree allowed beneath Israeli regulation.
Israel’s jail service didn’t reply to questions on the reason for demise. It mentioned solely {that a} 17-year-old from the West Financial institution had died in Megiddo Jail, a facility that has beforehand been accused of abusing Palestinian inmates, “along with his medical situation being saved confidential.” It mentioned it investigates all deaths in detention.
Khalid Ahmad, Walid’s father, mentioned his son was a vigorous teen who loved taking part in soccer earlier than he was taken from his dwelling within the occupied West Financial institution throughout a pre-dawn arrest raid.
Six months later, after a number of transient court docket appearances throughout which no trial date was set, Walid collapsed on March 23 in a jail yard and struck his head, dying quickly after, Palestinians officers mentioned, citing eyewitness accounts from different prisoners.
The household believes Walid contracted amoebic dysentery from the poor situations within the jail, an an infection that causes diarrhea, vomiting and dizziness — and might be deadly if left untreated.
Walid is the 63rd Palestinian prisoner from the West Financial institution or Gaza to die in Israeli custody because the begin of the struggle, in response to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which administers elements of the West Financial institution. Palestinian prisoner rights teams say that’s about one-fifth of the roughly 300 Palestinians who’ve died in Israeli custody because the 1967 Mideast struggle, when Israel captured the West Financial institution, Gaza and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians need all three territories for his or her future state.
The Palestinian Authority says Israel is holding the our bodies of 72 Palestinian prisoners who died in Israeli jails, together with 61 who died because the starting of the struggle.
Conditions in Israeli prisons have worsened because the begin of the struggle, former detainees advised The Related Press. They described beatings, extreme overcrowding, inadequate medical care, scabies outbreaks and poor sanitary situations.
Israel’s Nationwide Safety Ministry, which oversees the jail service and is run by ultranationalist Cupboard Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has boasted of decreasing the situations of Palestinian detainees “to the minimal required by regulation.” It says the coverage is geared toward deterring assaults.
‘Don’t fear about me’
Israel has rounded up 1000’s of Palestinians within the Gaza Strip and the West Financial institution, saying it suspects them of militancy. Many have been held for months with out cost or trial in what is called administrative detention, which Israel justifies as a vital safety measure. Others are arrested on suspicion of aggression towards troopers however have their trials repeatedly delayed, because the navy and Israel’s safety companies collect proof.
Walid sat by no less than 4 court docket appearances over videoconference, his father mentioned, however every time the choose delayed, finally setting an April 21 trial date. Every session was about three minutes, Walid’s father mentioned.
In a February session, 4 months after Walid was detained, his father observed that his son seemed to be unwell.
“His physique was weakened attributable to malnutrition within the prisons on the whole,” the elder Ahmad mentioned. He mentioned Walid advised him he had gotten scabies — a contagious pores and skin rash attributable to mites that causes intense itching— however had been cured.
“Don’t fear about me,” his father remembers him saying.
Khalid Ahmad later visited his son’s pal, a former soccer teammate who had been held with Walid in the identical jail. The pal advised him Walid had misplaced weight however that he was OK.
4 days later, the household heard {that a} 17-year-old had died within the jail. An hour and half later, they received the information that it was Walid.
“We felt the identical method as all of the mother and father of the prisoners and all of the households and moms of the prisoners,” mentioned Khalid Ahmad. “We are able to solely say ’Certainly, we belong to Allah, and certainly to him we will return.’”
Explanation for demise is unknown
Walid’s lawyer, Firas al-Jabrini, mentioned Israeli authorities denied his requests to go to his consumer in jail. However he says three prisoners held alongside Walid advised him that he was affected by dysentery, saying it was widespread amongst younger Palestinians held on the facility.
They mentioned Walid suffered from extreme diarrhea, vomiting, complications and dizziness, the lawyer mentioned. He mentioned they suspected the illness was spreading due to soiled water, in addition to cheese and yogurt that jail guards introduced within the morning and that sat out all day whereas detainees have been fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Megiddo, in northern Israel, “is the harshest jail for minors,” al-Jabrini mentioned. He mentioned he was advised that rooms designed for six prisoners typically held 16, with some sleeping on the ground. Many complained of scabies and eczema.
Thaer Shriteh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority’s detainee fee, mentioned Walid collapsed and hit his head on a metallic rod, shedding consciousness. “The jail administration didn’t reply to the prisoners’ requests for pressing care to avoid wasting his life,” he mentioned, citing witnesses who spoke to the fee.
The lawyer and the Palestinian official each mentioned an post-mortem is required to find out the reason for demise. Israel has agreed to carry out one however a date has not been set.
“The hazard on this matter is that the Israeli occupation authorities haven’t but taken any motion to cease this (illness) and haven’t offered any therapy on the whole to avoid wasting the prisoners in Megiddo jail,” Shriteh mentioned.
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Observe AP’s struggle protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
