Ramallah, October 21, 2025—A 16-year-old Palestinian-American boy who has been detained by the Israeli military since February reports deplorable conditions inside the Israeli prison where he is held.
Mohammad Zaher Taysir Ibrahim, then 15 years old, was detained by Israeli forces from his family home in Al-Mazra'a ash-Sharqiyah, near Ramallah, around 3 a.m. on February 15, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. During his arrest, Israeli forces bound his hands behind his back and blindfolded him, then transported him to Ofer military camp for interrogation. Israeli forces beat him with the butts of rifles during the transport. Mohammad is currently held in Ofer prison, where a DCIP lawyer interviewed him about his experience in September, after spending several months in Megiddo prison, located in northern Israel.
“Not even an American passport can protect Palestinian children,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “Despite his family’s advocacy in Congress and involvement of the U.S. embassy, Mohammad remains in Israeli prison. Israel is the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes children in military court. Despite obligations under U.S. and international law, the American government either doesn’t have the will or the power to help Mohammad, and continues to send Israel weapons with no restrictions.”
“[My] section consists of 19 rooms, each equipped with four bunk beds,” Mohammad told DCIP. “In each room, eight children occupy the beds, while the remaining children sleep on mattresses on the floor. The mattresses, whether on the beds or on the floor, are extremely light and inadequate. Each prisoner receives two blankets, yet we still feel cold at night. There is no heating or cooling system in the rooms. The only items present are mattresses, blankets, and a single copy of the Quran in each room.”
Mohammad continued, describing the meager meals that are fed to Palestinian prisoners by Israeli guards.
“The meals we receive are extremely insufficient,” he said. “For breakfast, we are served just three tiny pieces of bread along with a mere spoonful of labneh. At lunch, our portion is minimal, consisting of only half a small cup of undercooked, dry rice, a single sausage, and three small pieces of bread. Dinner is not provided, and we receive no fruit whatsoever. Occasionally, we might get a small cucumber and a tiny tomato with some meals, but this is not guaranteed. There are no desserts of any kind; we only receive a small spoonful of jam every two or three days. Sometimes, we are offered only light tea, which tastes more like hot water and is served without sugar.”
“In terms of hygiene and bathing, we are permitted to go outside to the yard once a day, around 9 a.m., for a duration of 40 minutes,” Mohammad told DCIP. “Prisoners from every three rooms are allowed to go out simultaneously. This time is meant for showering, but there are only six showers available, meaning not all prisoners can utilize this time for a shower. When we do shower, we have access to shampoo, but it lacks foam and fragrance. Each month, we shave our heads down to zero with a razor, but shaving our beards is prohibited.”
Mohammad is charged with throwing stones, the charge faced by the majority of Palestinian child detainees. If convicted, the sentence can be as long as 20 years in prison.
Since being detained in February, Mohammad has lost a considerable amount of weight due to the deliberate lack of adequate food provided to Palestinian detainees. He also dealt with a scabies infestation, which is increasingly common in Israeli prisons due to the overcrowding, lack of hygiene access, and medical neglect.
Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes between 500 and 700 children in military courts each year, while systematically stripping away the fundamental right to a fair trial right.
Conditions inside Israeli prisons have continued to seriously deteriorate since October 7, 2023, when Israeli authorities severely restricted access to the prisons and suspended family visits. Released Palestinian child detainees interviewed by DCIP report routine and brutal beatings, meager and rotten food, denial of access to the bathroom, and crowded, unsanitary cells.
Israel’s frequent and systematic practice of child detention violates its international law obligations to arrest and detain children only as a last resort. Article 37 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child additionally provides that no children deprived of their liberty “shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
