After spending nine months in an Israeli prison without trial, 16-year-old Mohammed Zaber Ibrahim, a Palestinian American teenager from Florida, was released on Thursday. Videos of his reunion with family members showed long, tearful hugs.
“Words can’t describe the immense relief we have as a family right now, to have Mohammed in his parents’ arms,” Zeyad Kadur, Mohammed’s uncle, said in a statement. “Israeli soldiers had no right to take Mohammed from us in the first place. For more than 9 months, our family has been living a horrific and endless nightmare.”
Mohammed was arrested in February when Israeli soldiers reportedly raided his family’s West Bank home in the middle of the night. He was charged with throwing rocks at Israeli vehicles — an allegation he has denied. He was 15 years old at the time of his arrest.
Mohammed’s Palestinian parents grew up in Puerto Rico and Missouri, and they moved from Florida to the West Bank so their children could work on their Arabic. The family frequently made trips back to the United States, and the 15-year-old apprenticed at his cousins’ ice cream shop in Tampa over winter break. Mohammed returned to the West Bank in January to complete his sophomore year of high school.
After his arrest, he was detained at Megiddo Prison, an Israeli maximum security facility notorious for its harsh conditions, according to former inmates and their advocates. Mohammed was moved to Ofer Prison in August.
Interrogation footage obtained by The Washington Post earlier this year shows the boy rocking back and forth as an Israeli interrogator repeatedly asks if he had thrown rocks at cars. In a statement to a lawyer for Defense for Children International Palestine, a children’s rights organization in the West Bank, Mohammed said he initially refrained from confessing, only doing so later after being threatened with beatings. “Out of sheer fear, I ultimately confessed,” he said, according to the statement, which was reviewed by The Washington Post.
Evidence to back the charges has not been presented in court.
Mohammed was one of about 360 children in Israel’s military prison system in late June — and the only American child, according to DCIP.
16-year-old American Mohammed Ibrahim has been released after over 9 months in an Israeli prison without trial. I was relieved to hear from his family today and to know that he’s safe and where he belongs — with his family. https://t.co/aMDdCW7kpi pic.twitter.com/Ut4R3gcHUG
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) November 27, 2025
As Mohammed’s health deteriorated, more than two dozen U.S. lawmakers pressed the Trump administration to secure his release. They wrote last month in a letter to U.S. officials of their “grave concern” over his detention, noting reports of mistreatment of Palestinians in Israeli detention facilities.
Two weeks after Mohammed arrived to Megiddo Prison, a 17-year-old inmate collapsed in the prison yard and died.
While U.S. Embassy officials had been able to visit Mohammed, he was denied all other contact with the outside world, the lawmakers said. They had heard of his “alarming weight loss, deteriorating health, and signs of torture,” they said, adding that Mohammed had contracted scabies. U.S. Embassy officials told the family that he has lost a quarter of his body weight.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agency said in October that it was working with Israel on the case, but it declined to offer details.
A video posted on Al Jazeera of Mohammed’s release showed him receiving medical care at a hospital. “We couldn’t sleep at night; we couldn’t do anything,” Mohammed toldthe outlet of his time as a detainee. “We asked for doctors, but no one came to us. No help ever arrived.”
The teenager’s father, Zaher Ibrahim, toldAl Jazeera that his son can’t eat much more than “a couple of spoons of soup” because his body is not used to the food. “We have to go, you know, treat him like a little baby and feed him little by little, until he can get back to where he was.”
The Israel Prison Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I was relieved to hear from his family today and to know that he’s safe and where he belongs — with his family,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), who played a major role in the campaign for Mohammed’s release.
“This brings tears to my eyes. Literally,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) said. “Thank you everyone who has been advocating for Mohammed’s release. This makes my Thanksgiving.”
“Mohammed was forced to spend his 16th birthday unjustly imprisoned by Israel, separated from the people who love him,” his uncle said in a statement. “Now that Mohammed is with his family, we can finally wish him a happy birthday. His mom, Muna, can prepare his favorite meal and be with her son.”
No such joyous return will be possible for Mohammed’s cousin Sayfollah Kamel Musallet. The 20-year-old, on break from scooping ice cream in Tampa, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers days after he arrived in the West Bank, according to local officials and residents. He is one of at least six Americans killed in the West Bank by Israeli settlers or military since the war began.
Mohammed’s uncle said that the family will continue demanding justice for Musallet. “We expect the American government to protect our families,” he said.
Cate Brown contributed to this report.
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