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A Palestinian American teenager has been released after spending more than 9 months in an Israeli prison without trial. Sixteen-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim had been charged with throwing stones at moving vehicles in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and was facing up to 20 years in prison if he was convicted. Civil rights groups and more than 20 U.S. Democratic Congress members have been calling for his release, as NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports.
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: Earlier this month, NPR visited Mohammed Ibrahim's parents at their family home north of Ramallah in the West Bank.
MUNA IBRAHIM: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
LONSDORF: Mohammed's mom, Muna Ibrahim, showed our team around the sprawling stone house surrounded by olive trees. The family splits their time between here and their home in Tampa, Florida. Muna showed us Mohammed's bedroom and the bed he was asleep in back in February...
IBRAHIM: I mean, that night - oh, my God.
LONSDORF: ...When Israeli soldiers came in the middle of the night.
IBRAHIM: They blindfolded him, handcuffed him, they just took him.
LONSDORF: His room had been practically untouched since. Mohammed was held without trial on charges of stone-throwing. He spent his 16th birthday behind bars. He wasn't allowed family visits or calls, although U.S. consular officials were able to visit him.
IBRAHIM: We expected, like, he'll come out within one week, you know, 'cause he's a U.S. citizen, and we just keep waiting.
LONSDORF: But on Thursday, Thanksgiving, that wait was finally over. Mohammed was freed. His family says he was forced into a confession and released in a plea bargain with a suspended sentence. NPR reached out to the Israeli prison service about the terms of his release but has not received a response. Mohammed's uncle, Zeyad Kadur, told NPR on a voice message that the family is overjoyed at his release.
ZEYAD KADUR: We're very happy. We are upset or sad that it took 9 1/2 months for a child, a minor, a U.S. citizen.
LONSDORF: He says, Mohammed was taken to the hospital almost immediately. He had lost a third of his body weight.
KADUR: We got him some IVs. We're going to get him some hydration, some soups.
LONSDORF: His nephew is also getting treatment for scabies. The family had to break the news to him that while he was imprisoned, his cousin, 20-year-old Sayfollah Musallet, also an American citizen, was killed, beaten to death by Israeli settlers while visiting the West Bank this past summer.
KADUR: So as a family, we're just going to focus on his health and his mental well-being.
LONSDORF: In a statement, the U.S. State Department welcomed the news of Mohammed's release, saying the Trump administration, quote, "has no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens."
KADUR: The bigger issue is how many other Mohammeds are in those same facilities who aren't American. No juvenile, no child, should be going through this.
LONSDORF: But on Thanksgiving, Kadur says the family took a moment to be thankful for all those who stepped in to help.
KADUR: We thank everybody. We thank God first, and, you know, we can celebrate today.
LONSDORF: Kat Lonsdorf, NPR News, Tel Aviv. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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