"Last February, Mohammed Ibrahim then 15 was awoken and pulled from his bed by Israeli soldiers, who said he'd been spotted throwing stones in the occupied West Bank. He's Palestinian-American, and his family splits their time between the Tampa area and a sprawling stone house surrounded by olive trees in this West Bank village. "Around 3:30 in the morning, they blindfolded him, handcuffed him they just took him," his mother, Muna Ibrahim, 46, recalls."
"Mohammed, a U.S. citizen, has been in Israeli prison since then, without family visits or phone calls. In March, he turned 16 behind bars, and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He's one of more than 9,000 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, detained in the West Bank since the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and the Gaza war that followed, according to official Palestinian figures."
"It's his tenth court appointment, according to his father, Zaher Ibrahim, who plans to attend. All of the previous hearings have adjourned without a plea bargain or trial date. "Their hearings here are not like America. You wait 9 hours, 8 hours, 7 hours there's no time when his court starts," the father, 50, says. "You walk in and they just say, 'Court delayed until next month.' That's how it's been for 9 months almost.""
Last February Israeli soldiers woke and removed Mohammed Ibrahim, then 15, after alleging he had been seen throwing stones in the occupied West Bank. He is a Palestinian-American whose family alternates between Tampa and a West Bank village. He has been held in Israeli prison without family visits or phone calls and turned 16 in custody. If convicted he faces up to 20 years. He is among more than 9,000 Palestinians detained in the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023. His military court hearings have repeatedly adjourned; U.S. Embassy officials reported scabies and severe weight loss, and some members of Congress cite possible signs of torture.
Read at www.npr.org
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