Palestinian Teenager Ahmad Manasra Released from Israeli Prison After Nine-Year

Middle East 12:57 11.04.2025

A Palestinian man jailed by Israel for an attack when he was 13 has been released after nearly a decade in prison.

Ahmed Manasra, who is now 23, became a symbol of a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that began in 2015.

Surveillance footage showed him and his 15-year-old cousin, Hassan, brandishing large kitchen knives in a Jewish settlement in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem. Hassan wounded a 13-year-old Israeli boy and an Israeli man before he was shot dead by police.Manasra's case has long been a focus of human rights groups. Amnesty International said he endured "shocking ill-treatment", including nearly two years of solitary confinement, causing him to develop serious mental illness.

His lawyer, Khaled Zabarqa told the BBC he was freed after serving his sentence.Israelis saw the young age of Manasra and his cousin at the time of the attack as evidence that they had been indoctrinated by propaganda.After the stabbings, Manasra fled the scene and was hit by a car. A graphic video widely shared on social media showed him as he lay bleeding profusely on the street and an Israeli bystander jeered and heckled.This footage provoked outrage in the Arab world and many assumed the boy was dead. However, days later Israeli authorities published a photo of him being treated in hospital.Later, Manasra was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to nine-and-a-half years in jail. 

Doctors say that he developed schizophrenia behind bars and tried to harm others and himself.

Repeated legal appeals for his early release were denied on the grounds that he was convicted of a terrorist offence.Since his release, his family has declined to speak to journalists."Until now, Ahmed's health state is unknown, and the family's priority is to diagnose and treat him and follow up on his health situation to lessen the side-effects that Ahmed might face," Khaled Zabarqa said. Amnesty International and the Israeli NGO, Adalah, accuse the Israeli authorities of breaches of international law throughout Manasra's case.They point to his interrogation at age 13 - without a guardian or lawyer present. Leaked video showed Israeli security staff shouting and insulting him as he became visibly distressed.

Manasra's rights were systematically stripped since his imprisonment. He has only been allowed to see his immediate family through a glass wall, without any physical contact," Adalah said in a statement.He has been completely denied the right to education and stripped of other basic rights. His right to dignity was violated, including through two years spent in solitary confinement, and his right to health was disregarded due to ongoing medical neglect by the Israel Prison Service.The prisons service says that all detainees are held in accordance with international law and that any allegations of abuse are investigated.Recently released Palestinian prisoners say that conditions inside Israeli jails have become much harsher since the deadly Hamas-led assault on southern Israel in October 2023, which triggered the Gaza war.

Many of those freed during the recent ceasefire in Gaza appeared thin and sick, and some needed immediate hospital treatment. They have described beatings, severe overcrowding, insufficient medical care, scabies outbreaks, and poor sanitary conditions.Israel's far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has boasted of ordering tight restrictions on security prisoners.Last month, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy from the occupied West Bank who was held in an Israeli jail for six months without charge died after collapsing, in unclear circumstances. Walid Khalid Ahmed became the first Palestinian child to die in Israeli detention.An Israeli doctor who observed the post-mortem examination found that he was suffering from extreme malnutrition.

Madina Mammadova\\EDnews

IEPF issued a statement regarding Azerbaijani children at the UN Human Rights Council

News line

Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan Investment Company Finances Projects Worth $360 Million
15:50 21.06.2025
Special closed OIC Foreign Ministers meeting to be held in Istanbul at Iran's request
15:45 21.06.2025
Over 740 Chinese citizens evacuated from Iran to Azerbaijan
15:37 21.06.2025
Mirzoyan, Kallas discuss Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization
15:30 21.06.2025
Turkish President Erdogan says region won't withstand new war
15:27 21.06.2025
Turkish FM Fidan Urges Global Action to End Sudan Conflict, Calls for Support to Syria and Turkish Cypriots
15:15 21.06.2025
Israel Strikes Military Facility in Shiraz: Details of the Operation
15:02 21.06.2025
Massive Israeli Air Strikes Hit Missile Sites in Iran's Tabriz and Kermanshah
15:39 20.06.2025
Pashinyan arrives in Türkiye on working visit
14:56 20.06.2025
Erdogan, Merz mull Israel-Iran conflict in phone call
14:07 20.06.2025
Mher Grigoryan: Azerbaijan, Armenia continue to work within border delimitation
13:03 20.06.2025
Araghchi: UN Security Council Must Respond to Israeli Attack on Khondab Nuclear Facility
11:00 20.06.2025
Belarus Contributing to Development of Azerbaijan's Industry, Says Ambassador
10:59 20.06.2025
Netherlands Embassy in Tel Aviv Damaged During Iran's Missile Strike
13:05 19.06.2025
Azerbaijan and BP Discuss Decarbonization and Energy Projects Amid Strengthening Strategic Partnership
13:00 19.06.2025
Delegates of 65th PABSEC General Assembly Begin Official Visit to Karabakh
11:54 19.06.2025
UK, German, and French Foreign Ministers to Hold High-Level Talks with Iran on June 20 in Geneva
11:44 19.06.2025
Ambassador: Azerbaijan Ready to Cooperate with Mexico in Energy Transition
11:10 19.06.2025
Azerbaijan Showcases Literary Heritage at Beijing International Book Fair
17:00 18.06.2025
Minsk Hosts Public Discussion on Return to Western Azerbaijan
16:55 18.06.2025
German Foreign Minister Urges Iran to Make Concessions, Supports Israel’s Concerns
16:41 18.06.2025
Explosions Rock Eastern Tehran Amid Escalating Israel-Iran Tensions
15:38 18.06.2025
Türkiye’s Strategic Role in the Turkic World Genci Muçaj
15:10 18.06.2025
Khamenei: Iran Will Emerge Victorious in Conflict With Israel
13:51 18.06.2025
Mobilization Against Peace: Armenia's Return to a Radical Past
17:01 17.06.2025
Israel prepares more complex operation against Iran
13:50 17.06.2025
Armenia and India discuss evacuation of Indian students from Iran
12:01 17.06.2025
Navies of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan start joint exercises
11:58 17.06.2025
Azerbaijan Mine Action Agency: 1,258 hectares cleared of mines last week
11:53 17.06.2025
More than 600 citizens of 17 countries evacuated from Iran via Azerbaijan
11:44 17.06.2025
IEA: Azerbaijan falls short of OPEC+ quota by 0.08 million b/d in May
11:41 17.06.2025
Iran attacks military sites in Tel Aviv, Haifa with 'new weapon' and drones
11:37 17.06.2025
Foreign diplomats briefed on addressing IDP issues in Azerbaijan
11:33 17.06.2025
Israeli-linked hackers claim to have hacked Iran's Bank Sepah
11:29 17.06.2025
Turkic states' investment promotion platform launched
10:53 17.06.2025
Israel strengthens borders with Egypt and Jordan, some troops withdrawn from Gaza
15:16 16.06.2025
Israel says it has full control of Tehran's airspace
15:11 16.06.2025
Poland plans to evacuate its citizens in Israel via Jordan
15:07 16.06.2025
10 Tajik citizens evacuated from Iran via Azerbaijan
13:58 16.06.2025
Erdogan and Pezeshkian spoke by phone, discussing Turkey's mediation
13:52 16.06.2025
Hamısı