The minor detainee, Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmed,17, from the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah, died in the Israeli Megiddo Prison under mysterious circumstances. This death adds to a long list of violations suffered by Palestinian prisoners, especially since the start of the ongoing genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
Walid was arrested on 30 September 2024 and remained in detention without charge or trial until his death. No clear details have been provided regarding the cause of death, but his passing underscores the continued policy of medical neglect and systemic abuse within Israeli prisons. These facilities have increasingly become sites of prolonged suffering, where detainees – including minors – are subjected to conditions that amount to slow death.
Since the onset of Israel’s latest military campaign in October 2023, the number of deaths in custody has surged to unprecedented levels. Detainees have reported escalating incidents of physical and psychological torture, deliberate starvation, denial of medical care, and brutal assaults.
Furthermore, enforced disappearance has been systematically applied, particularly against detainees from Gaza, obscuring the scale and gravity of abuses taking place behind prison walls.
The targeting of minors through arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and torture constitutes a blatant violation of international law, most notably the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which strictly prohibits the detention and abuse of children. It also breaches Article 3 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which guarantees the humane treatment of detainees and the protection of civilians during armed conflict.
The recurring deaths of detainees – especially children – are not isolated incidents, but reflect a broader, systematic policy aimed at breaking the will of the Palestinian people through the repression of its imprisoned population.
The continued perpetration of these grave violations in the absence of international accountability only serves to entrench a culture of impunity. Immediate international action is imperative to halt these abuses and ensure that those responsible are held to account in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian law.
