Palestinian ‘child prisoner’ Ahmad Manasra freed after 9 years in Israeli jail

Ahmad Manasra was arrested by Israeli forces in October 2015, when he was just 13 years old. Although the court later confirmed that he did not participate in the stabbings of two Israeli settlers, he was charged with attempted murder and sentenced to 12 years, later reduced to nine.

His violent arrest and leaked interrogation video — where he is seen panicking, injured, and repeatedly saying “I don’t remember” — drew widespread condemnation. He was interrogated without a parent or lawyer, in violation of international law.

After years of abuse, Ahmad developed severe mental health issues, including schizophrenia and depression. In 2021, he was placed in solitary confinement for nearly two years, a move human rights groups described as torture. Ahmad’s case triggered a change in Israeli law in 2016, allowing children as young as 12 to be imprisoned for serious crimes. His release was expected to take place at Nafha prison, but Israeli authorities left him in an unknown location in the Negev desert.

He was found by a Palestinian Bedouin who contacted his family. According to Save the Children, around 10,000 Palestinian children have been detained by Israeli forces in the last 20 years. Ahmad’s story has become one of the most emblematic cases of how the Israeli legal and military system treats Palestinian minors.