Elham Asaad Buaras
Ahmad Manasra, a Palestinian whose case sparked widespread international condemnation, has been released from Israeli custody nearly a decade after his arrest at the age of 13. Now 23, Manasra completed his nine-and-a-half-year sentence and was released on April 10, his legal representative Khaled Zabarqa confirmed.
A resident of occupied East Jerusalem, Manasra was convicted in connection with a 2015 stabbing incident perpetrated by his cousin, Hassan Manasra, near the illegal Pisgat Ze’ev settlement. Although the court acknowledged that Ahmad did not physically harm anyone, he was nonetheless charged with attempted murder and sentenced to a lengthy prison term.
At the time of the incident, Ahmad was 13 and Hassan was 15. Hassan was fatally shot by an Israeli civilian, while Ahmad was run over, assaulted by a mob, and sustained critical head injuries. A widely circulated video captured the aftermath, showing the young boy bleeding on the ground as bystanders verbally abused him.
During his incarceration, Ahmad’s mental and physical wellbeing declined significantly. In November 2021, he was placed in solitary confinement following an altercation with another inmate. His family later revealed he was confined to his cell for 23 hours a day, suffered from delusions and paranoia, and had attempted self-harm on multiple occasions.
An independent medical evaluation by a physician from Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), conducted in December 2021 after repeated petitions, concluded that Ahmad was suffering from schizophrenia. The doctor cautioned that continued detention could result in irreversible psychological damage.
Despite urgent appeals from international bodies including the United Nations and the European Union, Israeli authorities consistently denied requests for early release, citing his conviction under anti-terror legislation. During Ahmad’s time in detention, Israeli law was amended to permit the prosecution of children as young as 12 for terrorism-related offences.
His release was handled in a manner his lawyer described as deliberately isolating. According to Zabarqa, prison authorities freed Ahmad in an uninhabited area near Beersheba in the southern Negev region—far from the Nafha Prison where he had been held—in an apparent effort to prevent his family from greeting him. A passer-by discovered Ahmad and contacted his parents, who were later reunited with their son.
“We know he was in very poor health during his imprisonment. We are now waiting to learn more about his current condition,” Zabarqa said.
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director, welcomed the development, calling it “a huge relief for him and his family.”
“However, nothing can reverse the years of injustice, abuse, and trauma he endured in prison,” she added.
Photo: Ahmad Manasra, seen here at age 14, leaves the Jerusalem District Court on November 7, 2016, after being sentenced to 12 years in prison for his alleged role in a stabbing attack the previous year. (Credit: Muammar Awad/AA)
