LONDON: A Palestinian-American family is trying to secure the release of a 16-year-old detained by Israel for more than five months, The Guardian reported. 

Muhammad Zaher Ibrahim was detained at the family’s home in the occupied West Bank in February when he was 15, accused by Israel of throwing rocks at soldiers.

He was blindfolded, handcuffed and taken to Megiddo Prison in Israel where, his family say, he has lost a significant amount of weight while awaiting trial.

The family splits its time between their home in the West Bank town of Silwad and the city of Palm Bay, Florida.

His father Zaher Ibrahim wrote to his local Congressman Mike Haridopolos asking for help in securing his son’s release.

“The Megiddo Prison is notorious for brutality and suffering,” Zaher Ibrahim wrote to Haridopolos on a form seen by The Guardian. “We are kindly asking for some support in this matter. We have exhausted all efforts locally here in Israel and have no other option than to ask our local Florida office officials to reach out on our behalf.”

Haridopolos’s office said it had been informed by the State Department that the US Embassy in Israel is “following standard procedures” on the matter.

A spokesperson for the department said it has “no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens.”

Muhammad Ibrahim’s detention first came to prominence after his cousin Sayfollah Musallet was allegedly killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank in July.

Musallet, 20, who was also a US citizen, had been visiting relatives when he was beaten to death.

There are hundreds of Palestinian children in detention in Israeli jails, many without charge or contact with their families.

According to Defense for Children International-Palestine, as of March this year that figure was 323 aged 12-17 years.

Between 2005 and 2010, 835 Palestinian children in that age bracket were tried for stone-throwing by Israeli military courts. Only one was acquitted.

Ayed Abu Eqtaish, the West Bank-based accountability program director at Defense for Children International-Palestine, told The Guardian: “Palestinian children in Israeli prisons are totally disconnected from the outside world. They (Israel) will not recognize whether you are American, Somalian or whatever your citizenship.”

Abu Eqtaish said since Oct. 7, 2023, conditions in Israeli jails for Palestinians have worsened, adding: “Now they are stricter in punishment and sentences. We encounter problems knowing about living conditions inside prisons. There’s no family presence. Lawyer visits are very restricted.”

A State Department official told the Ibrahim family via email that embassy staff had visited him in prison but faced contact restrictions put in place by Israel.

During one welfare check, he was found to have lost 12 kg in weight. In another, staff reported that he was receiving treatment for scabies contracted in jail.

In a statement, a State Department spokesperson told The Guardian that it “works to provide consular assistance which may include visiting detained US citizens to ensure they have access to necessary medication or medical attention and facilitating authorized communications with their family or others.”