Israel releases Palestinian who took part in attack aged 13, developed mental illness in prison

Israel releases Palestinian Ahmad Manasra, accused of terrorism at 13, after developing schizophrenia in harsh prison conditions.

Israel on Thursday (April 10, 2025) released a Palestinian who took part in an attack when he was 13 and developed schizophrenia in prison as requests for early release were denied.

Israel accused that Ahmad Manasra is a terrorist who tried to kill Jews his own age. Palestinians accuse Israel of subjecting a child to harsh incarceration that led to serious and potentially permanent mental illness. His lawyer, Khaled Zabarqa, said he was released after completing his nine-and-a-half-year sentence.

In 2015, Manasra, then 13, and his 15-year-old cousin rampaged through a Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem with knives. His cousin, Hassan, critically wounded a 13-year-old Israeli boy who was leaving a candy store and stabbed an Israeli man before being shot dead by police.

Ahmad was run over by a car, beaten and taunted by Israeli passers-by. A graphic video of Ahmad lying in the street, bleeding from the head while Israelis taunted him, garnered millions of views.

He was later convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. Doctors said he developed schizophrenia in solitary confinement and tried to harm himself and others.

In another incident, a teenager from the occupied West Bank who was held in an Israeli prison for six months without being charged died last month after collapsing in unclear circumstances, becoming the first Palestinian under 18 to die in Israeli detention.

Appeals to Israel's Supreme Court for his early release were repeatedly denied. The courts ruled that he was ineligible, regardless of age or mental condition, because he was convicted of terrorism.