Ahmad Manasra, Arrested at 13 Years Old, Released After Nearly a Decade of Imprisonment by Israel

On Thursday, 10 April, after being imprisoned since 2015 and spending nearly ten years behind bars, Ahmad Manasra was released from Israeli prison, after his sentence ended. Arrested at just 13 years old, Manasra enters adulthood carrying the physical and psychological scars of years of imprisonment, solitary confinement, and systematic torture.

Manasra was arrested in 2015, accused of participating in a stabbing in the settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev alongside his cousin, who was killed at the scene. His psychological condition deteriorated severely following his arrest, interrogation and conviction, and he was later diagnosed with a serious and chronic mental illness that developed during his time in detention.

Adalah, through Adalah attorneys Nareman Shehadeh Zoabi and Adi Mansour, legally represented Manasra between 2022 and 2023, including efforts to secure his early release and legal action against his prolonged solitary confinement. 

Manasra spent nearly two years in solitary confinement in Israeli prison. The court repeatedly extended his solitary confinement despite his lawyers’ urgent warnings that his mental health was in grave danger and that he required immediate and intensive psychiatric care. The lawyers argued that these measures amount to acts of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, in clear violation of international human rights and humanitarian law.

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. 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 in solitary confinement, and his right to health was disregarded due to ongoing medical neglect by the IPS.

For the last year and half, like all “security” classified Palestinian prisoners and detainees, Ahmad Manasra was subjected to near-total isolation from the outside world. Family visits were completely banned, and he was denied any contact with his relatives. Lawyers were also barred from visiting him or monitoring his condition — raising grave concerns about his well-being, particularly in light of his deteriorating mental health.

Ahmad Manasra is not alone. His case reflects the broader system of violence imposed on Palestinians, including the systematic unchilding of Palestinian children. His years in solitary confinement, denial of medical care, and imprisonment since the age of 13 are the direct result of Israel’s repressive judicial system, which imposes the harshest punishments on Palestinian minors and legitimizes their unlawful and inhumane treatment, and of the Israel Prison Service, which routinely subjects Palestinian prisoners and detainees to grave abuses and acts of torture in violation of international law.