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"This is an American kid, so you would think that the United States government would be doing everything possible to secure his release," said Sen. Chris Van Hollen.
Democratic lawmakers are ramping up demands for the Trump administration to secure the release of 16-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim, a Florida resident and US citizen, who has been detained and reportedly abused in an Israeli prison for nine months—with Sen. Chris Van Hollen leading the latest call and expressing disbelief that the US has allowed the boy to suffer in jail while it continues to provide support to the country that's detaining him.
"This is an American kid, so you would think that the United States government would be doing everything possible to secure his release," said Van Hollen (D-Md.). "United States taxpayers provide billions of dollars to the [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government and the state of Israel. You would think that we would be able to get this American kid out of prison, certainly to make sure that he doesn't get abused and beaten up in prison."
Ibrahim, a Palestinian-American, was arrested in February after Israeli authorities accused him of throwing rocks at settlers in illegal settlements in the West Bank, where he was vising family members with his parents. He was blindfolded and handcuffed in the middle of the night by authorities who took him to Megiddo prison, a facility known for "brutality and suffering." He is now reportedly at Ofer prison, where he has had no contact with family members.
Van Hollen noted that Ibrahim has said he falsely confessed to throwing rocks after being beaten by Israeli soldiers.
Ibrahim's family last week called for an independent medical expert to assess his condition after a consular official met with the boy and said he had lost weight and had "dark circles" under his eyes. The official told the family they had spoken to "multiple US and Israeli agencies" about the visit.
“This is the first time in nine months that they showed grave concern for his health, so how bad is it?” Ibrahim's uncle, Zeyad Kadur, told Al Jazeera.
Last month, Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP) managed to interview Ibrahim and learned that he has been held in rooms with dozens of wother Palestinian children where there are "no heating or cooling systems" and where the detainees have faced at least one "scabies infestation."
"The meals we receive are extremely insufficient,” he told DCIP. “For breakfast, we are served just three tiny pieces of bread along with a mere spoonful of labneh. At lunch, our portion is minimal, consisting of only half a small cup of undercooked, dry rice, a single sausage, and three small pieces of bread. Dinner is not provided, and we receive no fruit whatsoever. Occasionally, we might get a small cucumber and a tiny tomato with some meals, but this is not guaranteed."
Ibrahim's cousin, Sayfollah Musallet, was killed by Israeli settlers in July, in an attack that the family and Democratic lawmakers have called on the Trump administration to investigate. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee took an unusually aggressive tone when he called Musallet's killing a "murder" and a "criminal and terrorist act" and said Netanyahu's government should open a probe into the killing, but the US has not gone further in demanding accountability.
Ibrahim had been set to appear in court on November 9, but the hearing date has been postponed to mid-December. Van Hollen led 27 Democratic lawmakers in writing to Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month, demanding that he push for the boy's release ahead of a visit Rubio was making to Israel.
The State Department has said it is "tracking" Ibrahim's case and working with the Israeli government on the matter.
But weeks after the Democrats sent their letter, on November 11, the Israeli Embassy wrote to a number of congressional offices, defending Ibrahim's detention and describing medical treatment he has allegedly received while in detention—but not mentioning reports that Ibrahim has lost significant weight since being detained.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) are among the lawmakers who have joined the latest call for Ibrahim's release, with Merkley appealing directly to Rubio on Saturday.
"Secretary Rubio: Act NOW to free Mohammed Ibrahim—it's your responsibility to protect American citizens," said the senator on social media.
Last week, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) accused Israel of failing to live up to its obligations under the international Convention of the Rights of the Child by imprisoning Ibrahim—who's just one of more than 300 Palestinian children in indefinite "administrative detention" in Israeli jails.
"It's long past due that President [Donald] Trump, Secretary Rubio, Ambassador Huckabee do what we say is the number one responsibility of our embassies overseas, which is to protect American citizens," said Van Hollen.
In Ibrahim's home state of Florida, Democratic US Senate candidate Jennifer Jenkins said last week that Ibrahim's case is "a matter of basic human rights."
"He is a child from our community, and he deserves dignity, medical care, and to come home safely. This is not partisan," said Jenkins. "As a mom and an advocate for our kids, I support the urgent calls for his release and urge Secretary Rubio to use every tool to bring Mohammed home."
"Republicans are rubber stamps for Donald Trump on everything else," said Sen. Chris Van Hollen. "This may be the one area where they've decided not to play ball."
President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to escalate his campaign to eliminate the filibuster in the US Senate.
According to a Tuesday report from Axios, Trump plans to relentlessly harass Republican senators until they accept his demands to kill the filibuster, which imposes a 60-vote threshold for closing debate on most legislation in the Senate ahead of a final vote.
One Trump adviser told the publication that the president plans to be relentless in lobbying Republicans to end the filibuster in a way he never was before.
"He will call them at 3 o'clock in the morning," they said. "He will blow them up in their districts. He will call them un-American. He will call them old creatures of a dying institution. Believe you me, he's going to make their lives just hell."
Another adviser told Axios that Trump is "really mad" about Democrats being able to force a government shutdown—now tied for the longest in history—even when Republicans have control of the US House, Senate, and presidency.
The official White House account on X even got into the action on Tuesday with an all-caps post demanding that GOP senators "TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER!!!"
Even so, there so far is no indication that enough Republican senators are going to obey Trump's orders on this issue, especially since three of them—Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and Susan Collins (R-Maine)—voted to convict him at his second impeachment trial in 2021.
Many Republicans, including former Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have long taken the view that the filibuster is a net benefit for their party given that it gives them the ability to indefinitely stall most progressive legislation.
In fact, Fox News reported on Tuesday that current Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) believes there are at most a dozen Republican votes in his caucus in favor of scrapping the filibuster.
In an interview with Axios, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) expressed confidence that Republicans wouldn't really walk the plank for Trump on this issue.
"Republicans are rubber stamps for Donald Trump on everything else," he said. "This may be the one area where they've decided not to play ball."
During former President Joe Biden's term, 49 Senate Democrats voted to eliminate the filibuster but were blocked from getting to the majority by then-Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), both of whom would eventually leave the Democratic Party to become independents.
The lawmakers told Rubio he has a "critical role to play in ensuring that US foreign policy protects our citizens and promotes international law and humanitarian relief."
A group of Democratic senators is urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pressure Israel not to attack the Gaza aid flotilla after the activists aboard warned they were facing an imminent threat.
The letter was sent on Wednesday by Democratic Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.).
The lawmakers stated that "the Global Sumud Flotilla is currently sailing across the Mediterranean Sea to bring vital humanitarian aid to Gaza, but has reportedly faced attacks by drones and other hostile actions."
On Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, the flotilla, which is carrying more than 550 civilian activists in over 50 vessels, was swarmed by drones and hit by flash-bang grenades.
The flotilla's participants alleged that the attack came from Israel, which has portrayed the flotilla as a violent threat in recent days. Both Italy and Spain sent warships on Wednesday to assist and protect the convoy.
In a press release on Thursday, the activists aboard the flotilla said they'd received “credible intelligence” that “Israel is likely to escalate violent attacks on the flotilla within the next 48 hours.”
Also on Thursday, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), claimed without offering evidence that the flotilla was "planned and funded by Hamas, by Hamas representatives in Europe" and said the Navy was "ready to defend Israel’s borders at sea."
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail at the start of September with 250 tons of critical food and medical aid for the people of Gaza, who are suffering from mass starvation as a result of Israel's near-total blockade of humanitarian aid entering the strip.
Last week, a commission of independent experts at the United Nations released an extensive report concluding that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. This has included its blockade of aid, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 400 people, including at least 145 children, with many dying in recent months.
At least 65,419 Palestinians have also been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 2023, and at least 167,160 have been wounded.
The lawmakers told Rubio that "US citizens, including residents of Maryland, Massachusetts, and Oregon" are aboard the flotilla's ships, adding that "under international humanitarian law and international human rights law, they warrant protection."
Participants in the flotilla include humanitarians, doctors, journalists, lawyers, and other activists from at least 44 countries worldwide. According to the antiwar activist group CodePink, 22 of the more than 550 people taking part in the flotilla are US citizens.
One of the vessels, Ohwayla, which took damage from a flash-bang grenade in Tuesday's drone attack, is primarily comprised of US veterans. Phil Tottenham, a member of Veterans for Peace and one of the passengers on Ohwayla, told Mondoweiss that despite the threats, "everyone with this flotilla is undeterred in our commitment."
"You have a critical role to play in ensuring that US foreign policy protects our citizens and promotes international law and humanitarian relief," the lawmakers told Rubio. "We urge you to demand that the Netanyahu government refrains from any use of force against peaceful civilian vessels and ensures that humanitarian aid is surged into Gaza so that the desperate conditions that continue to prompt these flotillas no longer persist."