Palestinians are demanding on social media platforms that detainee Ahmad Manasra be released in the hostage deal happening now.
The hashtag #freeahmadmanasra is circulating all over Instagram with videos of the 21-year-old detainee who has been held hostage since the age of 13.
The Incident
Manasra was detained in 2015 at the age of 13 when he was accused of stabbing two Israeli citizens along with his cousin, Hassan.
The Israeli forces shot and killed Hassan instantly and struck Ahmad with a car.
Video footage showed him with his legs twisted around him with a bleeding head. A crowd of Israeli settlers then surrounded him and started beating him and saying things like “Die, son of a bitch,” and other profanities in Hebrew.
Ahmed Manasra right after the car ran into him
He sustained injuries to his head and was taken out of the hospital before he finished his treatment.
He was then tried for murder, even though the knife which was allegedly used in the murder did not have blood on it.
Manasra was charged with murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Knesset injustice
In 2016, the Knesset passed the “Youth Bill,” which allows Israel to imprison children starting the age 12 if they were convicted of “terrorism”
The Israeli regime has been abusing Manasra ever since he was take in confinement.
Abuse in Israeli prisons
He has been kept in solitary confinement since November 2021, his lawyer, Khaled Zabarqa, said.
According to International law, it is a crime to keep a human being in isolation for more than 15 days.
Khulood Badawi, Amnesty International’s Campaigner on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said “Ahmad Manasra was taken to the mental health unit at Ayalon prison, after spending the better part of two years in solitary confinement.”
“The Israeli Prison Service, has requested an extension of Ahmad’s isolation for another six months, in brazen violation of international law. Prolonged solitary confinement lasting more than 15 days violates the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”
Manasra’s mental health
Manasra has been suffering from severe mental health problems including depression and schizophrenia.
In his latest meeting with his lawyer this year, Zabarqa told him that he will be out soon, to which Manasra responded, “I’m just waiting for death, I’m not waiting for anything from this life.”
The lawyer also said that as he was leaving, Manasra asked him “Are you sure that suicide is forbidden?”
