US teen freed after nine-month torture, starvation ordeal in Israeli prison

A 16-year-old Palestinian-American boy has been released after spending more than nine months in an Israeli prison, in a case that families and rights advocates say exposes the systemic mistreatment of Palestinian children in Israeli detention.

Mohammed Ibrahim, a Florida high school student, was freed on Thursday following a guilty plea that resulted in a suspended sentence.

His family told local media that he was taken straight to hospital after his release, describing him as severely underweight, pale, and still suffering from scabies he had contracted in detention.

Relatives said he had lost a quarter of his body weight since being seized during a night raid on his family's home in the occupied West Bank town of al-Mazraa ash-Sharqiya in February, when he was 15.

A video of his release showed him embracing his family members, looking noticeably thin and frail.

According to the family, Israeli forces blindfolded, handcuffed and beat him before taking him away. He later faced allegations of throwing objects at Israeli settlers, which he denied.

Mohammed turned 16 in prison. His family said they had virtually no contact with him for the duration of his detention.

Israel banned phone calls and family visits, forcing the family to rely on occasional updates passed through US officials.

"Words can't describe the immense relief we have as a family right now, to have Mohammed in his parents' arms," his uncle, Zeyad Kadur, said.

"For more than nine months, our family has been living a horrific and endless nightmare."

The case drew national attention in the US after reports surfaced of his deteriorating health.

In October, Mohammed told Defense for Children International-Palestine that meals were "extremely insufficient", with breakfast consisting of three small pieces of bread and a spoonful of yoghurt. Dinner was not provided, and fruit was absent from every meal.

UNICEF has documented that Israel remains the only country in the world that systematically tries children in military courts.

According to Defense for Children International-Palestine, 350 Palestinian minors between 12 and 17 were being held in Israeli military detention as of September.

Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has recorded hundreds of children prosecuted for stone throwing, with almost none acquitted.

Pressure on Washington to intervene intensified throughout the year. More than 100 American civil rights and faith-based organisations called for his release, while 27 members of Congress, including senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Chris Van Hollen, urged the State Department to act. A dedicated official was assigned to Mohammed’s case in September.

Kadur said Mohammed's ordeal highlighted a wider pattern.

"There are hundreds of children like Mohammed, unjustly trapped in an Israeli military prison and being subjected to Israel's abuse and torture," he said. "No family should ever have to go through what Mohammed just went through."

The family said they planned to belatedly celebrate Mohammed's 16th birthday with his favourite meal, cooked by his mother.