Palestinian who stabbed two at age 13 is freed, said to have developed schizophrenia
Supreme Court denied mental health parole for Ahmad Manasra, 20, convicted of terrorism for seriously wounding two in 2015 attack in Jerusalem
Israel on Thursday released a Palestinian man who stabbed two people in Jerusalem when he was 13, and who lawyers claim developed schizophrenia as a result of his conditions in prison.
Ahmad Manasra, now 20, was released after completing his 9.5-year sentence, according to his attorney Khaled Zabarqa, who said he had no immediate information about Manasra’s condition but was with the ex-prisoner’s parents.
“We know in jail he’s been very ill. We’re waiting to know his health situation now,” Zabarqa said.
The release came amid allegations by human rights groups and released Palestinian prisoners of abuse in Israeli prisons. Israel’s Prison Authority declined to comment on Manasra’s detention and said all prisoners are held in accordance with Israeli and international law and that allegations of abuse are investigated.
In 2015, Manasra and his 15-year-old cousin Hassan Manasra seriously wounded a 20-year-old man and a 13-year-old boy in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood. The terror attack took place amid a spate of stabbings by Palestinians in the West Bank and across Israel that raised fears of a third intifada in 2015-2016.
Police responding to the attack fatally shot Hassan, and Ahmad was seriously injured when he was hit by a car as he tried to escape the scene of the attack. Graphic video would later circulate of the wounded assailant lying in the street, bleeding from the head as passersby cursed at him.
Ahmad Manasra, who was arrested in 2015 after carrying out a stabbing attack in Jerusalem, is seen being released from Israeli jail, in Jerusalem, April 10, 2025. (Luana Sarmini-Buonaccorsi/AFPTV/AFP)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas claimed at the time that Israel had “summarily executed” Ahmad Manasra, prompting Israel to take the rare step of publishing a picture of the minor recovering at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center.
Manasra was convicted a year later and sentenced to 12 years in prison. In 2017, the Supreme Court reduced Manasra’s sentence to 9.5 years, citing his young age, rehabilitation, the opinion of prison authorities, and Manasra’s secondary role in the terror attack relative to his cousin.
Courts rejected repeated requests to release Manasra early on mental health grounds. Because Manasra was convicted of terrorism, he was deemed ineligible for a mental health release, regardless of age or psychological state.
In October 2021, an Israeli psychiatrist from the left-wing group Physicians for Human Rights determined Manasra was suffering from psychotic delusions, severe depression and suicidal thoughts, according to Amnesty International.
Authorities first moved Manasra to isolation a month later after a scuffle with another inmate. In interviews the following year, Manasra’s family and lawyers said he was locked in a small cell for 23 hours a day and suffered from paranoia and delusions that kept him from sleeping. His lawyer said Manasra had tried to slit his wrists.
In March 2023, a judge approved the extension of Manasra’s solitary confinement “to ensure the safety of Manasra, the safety of others from him and security and order in the prison.” During the hearing, the state said Manasra was found fit for solitary confinement in physical and psychiatric examinations, Haaretz reported at the time.
Manasra’s family said he was transferred to the psychiatric wing of another prison every few months, where doctors would give him injections to stabilize him.
Speaking to left-wing site Local Call in 2022, Manasra’s lawyer Leah Zemel said Manasra had developed schizophrenia because of how he was treated in prison.
“Ahmad has no family history of schizophrenia,” said Zemel. “His illness developed as a result of these conditions.” She argued her client’s condition could be traced back to the crowd that gathered around him when he was injured while carrying out the terror attack.
“I think that was a very difficult moment for him, and he went into prison with that difficulty,” said Zemel.
The Times of Israel Community.