LONDON: A dedicated US official will oversee the case of a 16-year-old Palestinian American being held by Israel, The Guardian reported on Saturday.
Mohammed Ibrahim has been imprisoned for more than seven months without trial after being accused of throwing stones at Israeli personnel. He is being detained at Ofer military prison in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
He was first arrested aged 15 in February. According to documents seen by The Guardian, at least two allegations of stone throwing have been made against him. Ibrahim’s cousin Sayfollah Musallet was killed by Israeli settlers at his home in July.
In detention, Ibrahim has lost a significant amount of weight and developed scabies, US officials reported, while access to him has been limited.
Ibrahim’s family have worked hard to gain the US government’s attention over his detention, and he will now meet his dedicated State Department official next week.
Last week, his family took part in a series of meetings with politicians in Washington, and appeared at a press conference alongside the relatives of other US citizens killed or imprisoned by Israel.
They included the families of Musallet, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi and Tawfic Alas, who were also killed in the West Bank over the past two years, as well as Rachel Corrie, who was killed in Gaza in 2003.
Eygi, 26, was killed by an Israeli sniper at a protest against settlement expansion in the West Bank last year.
Her sister Ozden Bennett said at a meeting with US lawmaker Jim McGovern of Virginia that Ibrahim “feels like my little brother,” adding: “I can’t do anything for my sister, but we can help him.”
More than 100 civil rights and religious groups in the US have called for Ibrahim’s release. His case has also drawn attention from numerous politicians in Washington and his home state of Florida.
In a meeting with senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Bennett implored the pair to travel to Ofer to insist on Ibrahim’s release, after they made a similar trip to El Salvador to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly detained and deported earlier this year.
Both senators previously met with Ibrahim’s father after a delegation trip to the region last month, their offices told The Guardian.
Merkley told the newspaper in a statement that Ibrahim “deserves humane treatment and a fair trial,” adding: “My colleagues and I call on Secretary of State (Marco) Rubio and the Netanyahu government to uphold Ibrahim’s basic human rights and dignity.”
In a statement, the State Department said it would not comment on the case over “privacy and other considerations,” but added that it helps all US citizens in need overseas.
