A Florida teenager is in an Israeli prison. Why his family and advocates say he should be released

ST PETERSBURG Fla AP A Florida family already grieving the beating death of a -year-old relative is now pleading with U S leaders to help free the dead man s cousin a -year-old Palestinian-American from Florida who has been held in an Israeli prison for eight months Relatives advocacy groups and particular Congress members have been seeking the release of Mohammed Ibrahim since he was taken into custody when he was by the Israeli military in February Mohammed s -year-old cousin Sayfollah Musallet was beaten to death by settlers in the West Bank village of Al Mazra as-Sharqiya earlier this year This is really about two American sisters one who just buried her son and her older sister going to give her encouragement and also praying that her son doesn t join the club of Americans killed overseas declared Mohammed s uncle Zeyad Kadur They re going through this together It s basically made our family numb commented Kamel Musallet Sayfollah s father and Mohammed s uncle It s been over three months and there s not a day me and my wife don t cry Jailed while visiting family Mohammed of Palm Bay Florida was visiting family in the West Bank with his parents in February according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations He was arrested on Feb at a family home in their village near Ramallah for allegedly throwing rocks at Israeli settlers in the West Bank according to the group and several members of Congress Israel s military has conducted regular arrest raids in the West Bank during the Israel-Hamas war taking unprecedented numbers of Palestinians into prisons where inmates have stated poor healing and conditions Israel says the mass arrests are to root out militancy But civilians and stone-throwers have been caught up in the raids and Palestinian-Americans like Mohammed have been among them Israel treats stone-throwers as militants while Palestinians widely see the practice as legitimate resistance to Israeli occupation The teen could get up to years in prison for the alleged offense for which his supporters say there is scant evidence In an affidavit provided by Kadur Mohammed is documented as telling his Palestinian lawyer that he was assaulted by Israeli soldiers using rifle butts when he was arrested and only confessed to stone-throwing after he was threatened by interrogators with another beating Initially I refrained from confessing but the interrogator threatened that if I did not comply he would instruct the soldiers to beat me Out of sheer fear I ultimately confessed the affidavit quotes the teen as saying Family says they have been kept in the dark More than U S faith-based human rights and civil rights organizations have sent a joint letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging action to obtain Mohammed s release In addition in a letter sent Tuesday to Rubio and the U S ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee U S senators and U S representatives disclosed they have grave concern over Mohammed s situation They urged Rubio and Huckabee to intervene by engaging the Israeli leadership directly to secure the swift release of this American boy Musallet noted that Huckabee visited the family in July following his son s death raising their hopes that Mohammed would be distributed We commented alhumdulillah at least certain good has come out of it and Mohammed was going to come out of prison Musallet mentioned using an Arabic phrase giving praise to God And months later still nothing Mohammed s family has been barred by the Israeli military from direct contact with their son since his arrest and has relied on sporadic reports about his condition at Israel s Megiddo and Ofer prisons from the U S Embassy in Israel his advocates say We hope he knows we re doing everything we can to get him out noted Zaher Ibrahim Mohammad s father Kadur explained Mohammed who turned while in prison was abducted in the middle of the night and handcuffed and blindfolded For his parents the last time they saw their son was when he was thrown in the back of a Jeep in February Kadur revealed He s not even an adult the teen s uncle revealed He s a minor and in our eyes as a family we also believe he s a hostage because a -year-old taken from his bedroom at gunpoint blindfolded and handcuffed doesn t describe the word prisoners Abysmal conditions described in Israel prisons In the affidavit provided to the family by his lawyer the teen reported that cells are overcrowded with particular prisoners sleeping on mattresses on the floor according to the affidavit Mohammed has lost weight and suffered a scabies infection according to reports from the US Embassy shared with his family and obtained by The Associated Press His wellness mentally and physically are a big question for the family Kadur declared In April a teenager from the West Bank who was held for six months without charge in Megiddo prison where Mohammed spent time became the first Palestinian under to die in Israeli detention collapsing in the prison s yard Defense for Children International-Palestine whose lawyer met with Mohammed explained inmates at Ofer are given meager portions of food at breakfast and lunch no dinner and no fresh fruit Showers are provided but only for a short time for a group of prisoners and not everyone gets a shower the group explained Mohammed s mother and father remain in the West Bank hoping to return to the U S with him the group declared adding that they fear if they leave Israel will not let them return Israel s military police and Shin Bet domestic safety agency did not respond to AP requests for comment about Mohammed s matter The Israel Prison Provision disclosed it does not comment on individual inmates or provide information regarding their identity legal status location or charges due to privacy operational and assurance considerations The U S State Department commented in a message that it is tracking Mohammed s circumstance closely and working with the Israeli leadership on the matter It noted it had no further comment due to privacy and other concerns Among the Palestinians apprehended during Israel s West Bank raids several are issued within days But others including teens have been held without charge or trial for months Other Americans have faced extended Israeli military detention And at least four Palestinian Americans have been killed by the Israeli military or settlers since the war s start Israel captured the West Bank along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the Mideast war The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state At Ofer Prison where Mohammed is at this moment held detainees who spoke to the AP have disclosed meager rations of food overcrowding and regular beatings by guards The teen s affidavit says he spent the first month of his incarceration being interrogated in Ofer Camp a facility Israel s military developed during the war to house Gaza detainees that has drawn criticism for inhumane conditions Kadur the teen s uncle disclosed he doubted other American citizens would be treated this way I have to ask the question to our elected leaders on any level if his name wasn t Mohammed if he wasn t Palestinian-American would he still be there Kadur noted The real question is why is a -year-old starved and with a skin infection still there instead of back home going to a football match or getting his drivers permit