US Lawmakers Demand Accountability for Palestinian-American Teen Detained in Israel
Fifteen members of the US Congress have sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, pressing for details on the steps taken by the United States in response to the alleged mistreatment of a Palestinian-American teenager who spent nine months in Israeli detention. The letter, spearheaded by Senator Peter Welch and first obtained by the Guardian, focuses on the case of Mohammed Ibrahim, a Florida resident who was 15 years old when Israeli soldiers arrested him during a raid on his family's West Bank home in February 2025.
Details of the Detention and Alleged Abuse
Mohammed Ibrahim was charged with throwing objects at moving vehicles before being released on 27 November following a guilty plea and a suspended sentence. Upon his return, he was immediately taken to a hospital. According to correspondences reviewed by the Guardian, the State Department informed his family that the then 16-year-old was severely underweight, having lost approximately one-third of his body weight, and had suffered from a scabies skin infection several months into his detention.
In interviews with family members and US consular officers, Mohammed reported that he and other Palestinian minors held in the same cell were subjected to beatings, threats, pepper-spraying, and denial of adequate food and medical care throughout his detention. While still detained, he described to the advocacy group Defense for Children International – Palestine receiving only three small pieces of bread and a spoonful of yogurt for breakfast, with no dinner provided.
Lawmakers' Concerns and Demands
The lawmakers' letter, dated 16 February, expressed deep concern over what they described as a pattern of abuse in the Israeli military justice system. "There has been case after case of Palestinians, including hundreds of children, swept up in the Israeli military justice system, where they are not only denied basic rights of due process but subjected to systematic physical and psychological abuse," the letter stated. "While such abuses are never permissible, we are especially concerned that cases involving abuse of US citizens in the West Bank be thoroughly investigated and that those responsible are brought to justice."
The letter poses three specific questions to Secretary Rubio:
- Whether State Department officials have met with Mohammed since his release to hear his account directly.
- Whether Washington has requested Israel to conduct an impartial investigation into the treatment of Ibrahim and his fellow detainees.
- Whether any Israeli military or prison personnel have been held accountable for the alleged abuses.
Background and Broader Context
This communication follows what the lawmakers deemed an unsatisfactory response to an initial letter sent to Rubio in October. The original reply in December, signed by official Paul Guaglianone, acknowledged Mohammed's release but failed to address the concerns raised. The case gained widespread attention after the Guardian exposed Ibrahim's plight in July 2025, prompting over 100 US human rights, faith-based, and civil society organizations to call for his release last August. The State Department assigned a dedicated case officer in September, but his family reported having almost no direct contact with him during his custody, relying instead on updates from US embassy officials.
The recent letter garnered signatures from prominent senators including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, Chris Van Hollen, Jeffrey Merkley, and Brian Schatz, alongside House members such as Rashida Tlaib, Jerry Nadler, Jim McGovern, and Maxwell Frost. Additionally, the lawmakers highlighted the death of Walid Ahmad, a 17-year-old who shared Mohammed's cell and was never charged with a crime. An autopsy reportedly revealed signs of prolonged malnutrition, untreated colitis, injuries consistent with blunt trauma, and scabies.
"This type of abuse, which has become commonplace in the West Bank and Israeli prison facilities, must stop," the lawmakers emphasized in their letter. The State Department has not yet responded to requests for comment on the matter.
