The result of an autopsy revealed that the 17-year-old Brazilian-Palestine-Paleid teenager Walid Khalid Ahmad died after prolonged malnutrition ”in an Israeli prison.
The young man was the first minor to die in custody of the Israeli authorities since the war between Hamas and Israel began in October 2023, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS).
Ahmad died in the prison of Megido, Israel, on March 22, according to the family and a joint statement of the PPS and the Palestinian Commission on Detaiste Affairs.
Ahmad was arrested on September 30 last year at home in Silwad, a Palestinian town near Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
His father, Khalid, told the CNN that the son was arrested based on alleged offenses against Israeli authorities between 2020 and 2023, such as throwing stones and molotov cocktails.
The family denies the accusations made against him. The Palestinian organization PPS told the CNN that the teenager was never accused, and the court hearings were postponed repeatedly.
Five days after Ahmad’s death, the body was examined at the Forensic Institute Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv, according to a copy of the autopsy report that the family shared with CNN.
The autopsy report described signs of severe weight loss and muscles, including loss of muscle mass in the temples, appearance sunk in the abdomen and “almost absent muscle mass or subcutaneous fat in the trunk and ends”.
“Autopsy results suggest that Ahmad suffered from extreme malnutrition, probably prolonged, as observed by the deeply cachectic state and inadequate food intake complaints since at least December 2024,” the document says.
“It should be noted that malnutrition increases the risk of infectious complications, including severe sepsis,” he added.
Questioned by CNN, Israel’s security service and Israel’s defense forces did not immediately answer the reports about why the teenager was arrested last September and if he had been formally accused.
The Ministry of Justice of Israel referred investigations back to prison service.
PPS said to CNN that Ahmad is not only the first minor to die in Israeli custody since October 2023, but also since 1967. CNN You cannot check the statement.
Death in prison
At least 63 Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank have so far died in Israeli detention since the beginning of the last conflict in 2023, PPS said.
Israeli prison service told the CNN That “when receiving the initial report on the condition of the detainee, a medical team was called to the scene and responded as necessary.”
“As in any case of a prisoner’s death, an investigative team was appointed to examine the case. Upon completion of the investigation, the findings will be sent to the authorized authorities,” the prison service said.
“The painful truth”
Khalid, Ahmad’s father, told the CNN That on September 30, 2024, Israeli forces “invaded the house” around 3:30 am and arrested their son.
The family was allowed to attend several court hearings in the case, which were remotely held by video conferences, he said.
The family was informed two days of the teenager to die, said Khalid. The father added that days later, he received a call from the medical team that led the autopsy, which told him “the painful truth” behind his son’s death.
Avid athlete, Ahmad did not suffer from any known disease before his arrest, said his father, who accused the prison service as the cause of his son’s death.
“Walid was a young man with great values,” said Khalid. “What happened was unexpected.”
The Commission on Detaiste Affairs and the PPS said the death of the young man was “proof of the horrible level of abuse faced by detainees within Israeli arrests, including hundreds of children.”
Israel has increased prisons in the West Bank since the beginning of the war. About 15,700 arrests have been recorded so far, according to PPS.
Brazil charges Israel’s explanation
Itamaraty called for clarification from the Israeli ambassador in Brazil, Daniel Zonshine, about the case involving the death of Brazilian Walid Khaled Abdallah Ahmad.
The meeting took place on March 24 with the secretary of Africa and the Middle East of Itamaraty, Carlos Duarte. The conversation with the Israeli ambassador was already scheduled before the case came to light. Therefore, they also dealt with other matters.
The request for explanations is part of the contacts made by Brazilian posts in the region, such as Tel Aviv and Ramalah, with local authorities to try to clarify the situation.
This content was originally published in autopsy reveals that Brazilians died of malnutrition in Israel’s arrest on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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