Mohammed Ibrahim, a Palestinian-American teenager, was pulled from his bed in the West Bank in the predawn hours last February after Israeli soldiers said he had been seen throwing stones. He was 15 at the time. His family, who split their time between the Tampa area and their home in the West Bank village of Al-Mazraa A-Sharqiya, say he has been held in an Israeli prison ever since.
Mohammed’s mother, Muna Ibrahim, remembers the raid: “Around 3:30 in the morning, they blindfolded him, handcuffed him — they just took him. Since that day I didn’t see my son. I didn’t hear his voice.” The family says he has had no regular family visits or phone calls while detained. In March he turned 16 behind bars. If convicted under the charges he faces, he could receive up to 20 years in prison.
Mohammed is one of more than 9,000 Palestinians the Palestinian authorities say have been detained in the West Bank since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and the ensuing Gaza war. Hundreds of those detained are children. On Sunday, Mohammed is scheduled to appear at an Israeli military court hearing — his tenth court appointment, his father Zaher Ibrahim says. All previous hearings were adjourned without a plea bargain or a 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,” Zaher says. “You walk in and they just say, ‘Court delayed until next month.’ That’s how it’s been for 9 months almost.”
U.S. Embassy officials have been allowed to visit Mohammed in prison, and the family says those officials — along with released prisoners — reported that he is suffering from scabies that began on one foot and spread across his body, and that he has lost nearly a third of his body weight. A group of U.S. lawmakers has raised concerns about “alarming weight loss, deteriorating health, and signs of torture.” The family has hired a lawyer, but Zaher says prison visits remain infrequent.
Mohammed’s case is being handled under special West Bank security provisions enacted after the Oct. 7 attacks. Those provisions treat stone-throwing as a serious offense. Court documents reviewed by reporters show Mohammed is charged with two counts of stone-throwing. The relevant law makes it a crime to “throw an object, including a stone, or act in concert to do so.” Three other Palestinian youths were arrested the same day in connection with the same alleged incident.
Penalties under the special provisions are severe: if the target is a person or property, the law carries a sentence of up to 10 years; if the target is a moving vehicle, the penalty can be up to 20 years. Mohammed is charged under the moving-vehicle provision. According to interrogation records and a video shared with his father, Mohammed admitted to throwing a stone near a road but says he did not hit anyone or intend to hit anything.
The Israeli military declined to discuss the specifics of Mohammed’s case, saying only that military juvenile courts in the West Bank are kept confidential to protect the privacy of minors. In public statements, the military has said defendants are represented by a lawyer of their choice, that evidence is made available to the defense, and that military courts uphold due process and defendants’ rights.
Lea Tsemel, a prominent Israeli lawyer who has represented many Palestinians in military courts, said the long sentences are part of a system that pushes defendants toward plea bargains. “Even a boy — even a younger boy than this one — is considered a security prisoner, and will be limited and denied of any right, including food, including family visits,” she said, adding that access to lawyers is often limited. Tsemel is not Mohammed’s lawyer.
In the U.S., 27 members of Congress signed a letter asking U.S. officials to press Israel for Mohammed’s “swift release,” citing his weight loss, declining health and alleged signs of torture. The letter was sent to the U.S. ambassador to Israel and to the U.S. secretary of state; one of the Florida lawmakers involved has also arranged for a U.S. diplomat to liaise with the Ibrahim family.
The U.S. State Department says it is “tracking Mr. Ibrahim’s case closely and working with the government of Israel,” and that embassy staff are engaged with the family. Zaher Ibrahim says U.S. officials have had meetings with Israeli authorities and reported positive interactions, but he says there has been little follow-up.
The family is anxious about the outcome of the hearing. Zaher hopes for Mohammed’s release, a plea deal or at least a trial date. Muna has left a box of chocolates on Mohammed’s bed at home as a welcome gift, though he has not slept there in months.
The family is also preparing for difficult conversations should Mohammed be released. While he was detained, the family learned that his cousin, 20-year-old Sayfollah Musallet — another U.S. citizen — was killed in the West Bank. Muna says the cousins were close. Musallet was among several Americans killed in the West Bank since Oct. 7; his case, too, has not yet gone to trial.
The case underscores tensions around the military justice system in the West Bank, questions about detention conditions, and the role of U.S. consular advocacy for American citizens held abroad. Mohammed’s hearing will be another step in a legal process that his family says has stretched on with little resolution for months.
