Palestinian-US teen released from Israeli prison, nine months after West Bank arrest
16-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim, accused of throwing rocks and allegedly coerced into a confession, lost some 25 pounds in prison and has signs of scabies infection, family says
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Mohammed Ibrahim, an American teenager held in Israeli custody for nine months, was released Thursday evening and immediately checked into a hospital, his uncle Zeyad Kadur said.
Ibrahim, who turned 16 in prison, was arrested on February 15 at a family home in their village near Ramallah for allegedly throwing rocks at Israeli settlers in the West Bank, an accusation that he told his lawyer he was coerced by interrogators into confessing to. He was held at Meggido Prison, then at Ofer Prison, both in the West Bank.
Head shaven and still in a gray jumpsuit, Ibrahim wiped tears away as he was embraced by family members shortly after his release, in videos taken by the family. His father, Zaher Ibrahim, could be seen kissing his son and beginning to cry.
Further footage showed the teenager, again in the gray jumpsuit, smiling and shaking well-wishers’ hands.
His family said that he was visibly thinner than when he was first detained.
“He’s skinny and pale, his eyes are sunken in and he still has signs of scabies,” Kadur, Mohammed’s uncle, told AP.
The family published testimony last month from a lawyer who recently visited the teenager at Ofer Prison in the West Bank. The lawyer said she learned the teen had contracted the skin infection and had lost roughly 25 pounds (11 kilograms), apparently due to insufficient food for inmates.
لحظة وصول الامريكي الفلسطيني محمد ابراهيم ١٦ سنة الى اهله بعد ان امضى عدة اشهر في سجون الاحتلال. pic.twitter.com/2QThSS0dqn
— Samar D Jarrah (@SamarDJarrah) November 27, 2025
Ibrahim had also described the prison as overcrowded, with some prisoners sleeping on mattresses on the floor.
In an affidavit provided by the family, Mohammed was documented as telling his lawyer that he was assaulted by IDF soldiers using rifle butts when he was arrested and only confessed to stone-throwing after he was threatened by interrogators with another beating.
“Initially, I refrained from confessing, but the interrogator threatened that if I did not comply, he would instruct the soldiers to beat me. Out of sheer fear, I ultimately confessed,” the affidavit quoted the teenager as saying.
More than 100 American faith-based, human rights and civil rights organizations sent a joint letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month, urging action to obtain Mohammed’s release. Some 24 members of the US Congress sent a similar letter to Rubio and the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee.
In the letter, representatives noted what they said was the “disturbingly similar case” of Walid Ahmed, who was detained for allegedly throwing rocks and died six months later, in March 2025. An autopsy, conducted by an NGO-affiliated Israeli doctor at the request of Ahmed’s family, said the teenager was in a state of extreme weight loss and muscle wasting before his death.
In July, Ibrahim’s 20-year-old cousin, Sayfollah Musallet — also a US citizen and Florida native — was allegedly beaten to death by settlers in the West Bank village of Al Mazra as-Sharqiya.
Huckabee urged Israel “to aggressively investigate [Musallet’s] murder,” calling it a “criminal and terrorist act.” No one has been arrested over the incident. Violence by settlers against Palestinians has surged in recent years, with almost none of the incidents leading to arrests or prosecutions.
Violence in the West Bank has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.