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mohammed ibrahim
After 9 Months of 'Israel's Abuse,' US Teen Mohammed Ibrahim Freed From Detention
While expressing relief, the 16-year-old's uncle noted the "hundreds of children like Mohammed, unjustly trapped in an Israeli military prison."
Nov 27, 2025
"Words can't describe the immense relief we have as a family right now," said Zeyad Kadur, the uncle of Mohammed Ibrahim, the 16-year-old Palestinian-American who was finally released on Thursday after over nine months in Israeli detention.
In February, Israeli forces arrested the Florida resident, then 15, at a family home in the illegally occupied West Bank over allegations that he threw rocks at Israeli settlers. Ibrahim's release follows a monthslong pressure campaign from his relatives, rights groups, and American lawmakers, who have specifically urged President Donald Trump to demand the US citizen's freedom.
"Israeli soldiers had no right to take Mohammed from us in the first place," said Kadur. "For more than nine months, our family has been living a horrific and endless nightmare, particularly Mohammed's mother and father, who haven't been able to see or touch their youngest child for nearly a year, all while knowing Israeli soldiers were beating him and starving him."
"We couldn't believe Mohammed was free until his parents wrapped their arms around him and felt him safe," he continued. "Right now, we are focused on getting Mohammed the immediate medical attention he needs after being subjected to Israel's abuse and inhumane conditions for months. We just want Mohammed to be healthy and to have his childhood back."
According to the Guardian, which first exposed Ibrahim's case in July: "Relatives said he was taken to a hospital for intravenous therapy and blood work immediately after his release, and noted he is severely underweight, pale, and is still suffering from scabies contracted during his detention. Ibrahim had lost a quarter of his body weight in detention, his family said."
Kadur said Thursday that "we'd like to thank the more than a hundred organizations, local Florida community members, volunteers, and members of Congress who continued to speak up for Mohammed and demand his immediate freedom. We are also deeply grateful to the countless people who refused to stop telling Mohammed's story, and to those who called their representatives every single day to demand they act to free him. Thank you for bringing Mohammed's story to the American people and the world."
The uncle added:
There are hundreds of children like Mohammed, unjustly trapped in an Israeli military prison, being subjected to Israel's abuse and torture. No mother, father, parent, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, or child should ever have to go through what Mohammed just went through. As we support Mohammed and are beyond relieved he is free, we will continue to demand justice for Sayfollah Musallet, an American and Mohammed's first cousin, who was beaten to death and murdered by a mob of Israeli settlers on July 11, 2025. We expect the American government to protect our families.
Mohammed was forced to spend his 16th birthday unjustly imprisoned by Israel, separated from the people who love him. Now that Mohammed is with his family, we can finally wish him a happy birthday. His mom, Muna, can prepare his favorite meal and be with her son. We are proud of Mohammed and love him dearly. The family requests time to be with their son after this painful experience.
The Institute for Middle East Understanding shared Kadur's statement and also called for justice for Musallet.
Ibrahim's freedom came as people in the United States celebrated Thanksgiving.
"Something to be thankful for today: Mohammed Ibrahim freed from captivity," wrote Drop Site News' Ryan Grim on social media.
US Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) similarly said, "On a day of thanksgiving we are so grateful Mohammed Ibrahim is on his way home."
Robert McCaw, government affairs director at the largest US Muslim rights group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement that "Mohamed’s homecoming is a blessing, but it does not erase the torture and suffering he endured."
"The US government has a responsibility to investigate Israel's abuse of an American citizen and ensure that no other child—American or Palestinian—is subjected to the same treatment," McCaw added.
The US government provides Israel with billions of dollars in military aid annually, and has continued to do so over the past two years, as Israeli forces have waged a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip—a genocide that "is not over," despite last month's ceasefire agreement, as Amnesty International highlighted in a Thursday briefing. Amid that assault, there has also been a surge in Israeli soldiers' and settlers' violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
"Mohammed should have spent this year studying for his learner's permit and enjoying time with his family—not locked in a military prison, beaten, starved, and terrified. His release is cause for celebration, but it must also be a turning point," said CAIR's Florida chapter. "The US cannot continue providing unchecked support to a government that tortures American children."
"CAIR and CAIR-FL are calling on the US State Department, members of Congress, faith leaders, and civil society organizations to press for a full, public accounting of Mohammed's treatment and to demand concrete consequences for the Israeli officials responsible," the group added. "The organizations also reaffirm their commitment to supporting Mohamed and his family as he recovers from the trauma of his imprisonment and to advocating for all children subjected to abuse under Israel's military system."
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Trump Called On to Secure Release of 16-Year-Old US Citizen Mohammed Ibrahim From Israeli Detention
"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.
Nov 24, 2025
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."
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