Israeli court to rule on if Ahmad Manasra gets early release today

Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails Ahmad Manasra is scheduled to appear before the Israeli court today to decide upon granting him an early release based on his psychological health condition.

Manasra's was arrested in 2015 at the age of 13 after being wounded by Israeli police and was sentenced to 9 years. Israel accused him of assisting his cousin, who was killed on the scene, in an attempt to stab an Israeli.

"We have made the case for Ahmad's early release because he urgently needs psychological assistance that can not be provided in detention," Khaled Zabarqah, Manasra's lawyer, told The New Arab.

"Israeli authorities recognise his condition given the fact that he is currently held in the Ramleh Prison Clinic's psychiatric section," pointed out Zabarqah, who described Manasra as "ill and in urgent need of help".

"However, he needs more than just medicine, which is what he is being given. He needs the supporting social environment of his family, who also has the right to decide what type of treatment he receives," Zabarqah added.

Tomorrow, the Israeli occupation will hold Ahmed Manasra trial. Let's raise our voice and demand his release. #FreeAhmadManasra 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/GB4iSadNyg

— Turgay Evren (@TurgayEvren1) June 27, 2022

In April, Manasra appeared before the Israeli court, which decided to transfer his case to a special committee to determine whether to drop the "terrorist" designation in his charges, based on his age at the time of the events and the fact that he was never charged with stabbing himself.

Earlier in June, the committee ruled in favour of maintaining the "terrorism" charges on Manasra. Today, the Israeli court is expected to rule on whether to grant Manasah early release, based on his psychological health condition and on the fact that he has already served more than two-thirds of his sentence.

"Ahmad has suffered serious psychological damage due to his detention conditions," Yoaad Ghanadry, head of the Palestinian Mental Health Network, who follows Manasra's case, told The New Arab.

"He had received a severe blow on his head causing him bleeding at the moment of his arrest when was a child," Ghanadry said. "Israeli authorities delayed medical attention to him, which increased the psychological impact on him."

The prominent activist Sarah Wilkinson speaks out in solidarity with Palestinian detainee Ahmad Manasra, who has developed mental health problems since his arrest as a 13-year-old child, and calls for his freedom saying" I'll finish off by just saying, Free Ahmed Manasra" pic.twitter.com/dpJXeuBNC2

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) June 20, 2022

"Ahmad has grown out of childhood and lived through his adolescence in Israeli prison, submitted to repeated solitary confinement," she stressed. "His latest solitary confinement has lasted for almost eight months, which seriously deteriorated his conditions, and forced the Israeli authorities to transfer him to the Ramleh clinic." 

In April, the Palestinian Mental Health Network and other rights organizations and activists launched a campaign to gather support for Ahmad Manasra's case.

Some 4,700 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails, including 170 children. Israeli authorities arrest and judge around 500 Palestinian children in military courts every year, according to human rights groups.