Palestinian prisoners have suffered torture, abuse and starvation in Israeli jails [Getty]
A Palestinian boy from the occupied West Bank became the first teenager to die in Israeli detention at the end of March, passing away due to starvation and other health-related complications, his autopsy revealed.
17-year-old Walid Ahmad died on 22 March as a result of dehydration, colitis-induced diarrhea as well as infections from malnutrition and denial of life-saving medication while imprisoned at the infamous Megiddo prison – located in northern Israel.
The autopsy report published by the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv on March 27, said that Walid suffered from “extreme, likely prolonged malnutrition,” as well as an inflamed colon, which caused frequent diarrhea and severe dehydration. It also found that the teenager had a cut on his neck.
The teenager died on 23 March after he collapsed in the prison’s courtyard, according to Defence for Children International – Palestine (DCIP). He was held there for at least six months prior to his death, after being detained in September for allegedly throwing stones at soldiers.
Ayed Abu Eqtaish, the director of the DCIP, said that Walid was deliberately starved in Israeli custody.
“Walid’s autopsy indicates that Israeli prison guards systematically starved and abused him for months until he finally collapsed, struck his head, and died,” he said.
Walid was medically examined between December 2024 and February 2025, after suffering from scabies. He was examined again after suffering from malnutrition, but this did not prevent his death.
His parents said the teenager suffered from amoebic dysentery from the poor conditions in the prison, an infection that causes diarrhoea, vomiting and dizziness – and can be fatal if left untreated.
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners have suffered abuse, medical neglect, and malnutrition in Israeli prisons, with Israeli prison guards systematically beating them, depriving them of food, and sexually assaulting them, particularly after the war on Gaza started in October 2023.
“Starvation is a tool of genocide, seeking to weaken and ultimately destroy both the body and spirit of Palestinian child detainees held in Israeli prisons,” Abu Eqtaish said.
“Walid’s death was not an accident—it is a crime and the international community must immediately intervene to apply sanctions against the Israeli government to force accountability,” he added.
