Just hours after his release following 10 years in prison, zionist authorities issued a house arrest order for 23-year-old freed Palestinian detainee Ahmad Manasra until Sunday, with a financial bail set at 3,000 shekels.
The Zionist occupation authorities released prisoner Ahmad Manasra this Thursday evening 10/04/2025 from Nafha Prison, after ten harrowing years of imprisonment marked by relentless physical and psychological torture.
According to human rights organizations specializing in prisoners’ affairs, the occupation had initially planned to release Ahmad near the prison gates—where his family was waiting with hope and open arms. But their reunion was disrupted by a phone call from a Bedouin brother in the Be’er Sheva area, informing them that Ahmad was with him. The occupation had deliberately released him far from the prison entrance—a calculated act meant to humiliate and burden both the prisoner and his loved ones, part of a broader policy of harassment and cruelty against Palestinian detainees and their families.
Since October 2021, Ahmad had been held in solitary confinement, despite his deteriorating health. For the past two years, he was only allowed to meet his lawyer via video screen—never in person.
Ahmad Manasra was violently arrested in 2015, at the tender age of 12, under the pretext of an attempted stabbing. During the incident, occupation soldiers opened fire on both Ahmad and his 13-year-old cousin, Hassan, who was martyred before Ahmad’s eyes. Ahmad himself was run over and brutally beaten, resulting in skull fractures and severe trauma.
During interrogation, Ahmad was subjected to both physical and psychological torture, and coerced into confessing under duress. In 2016, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison, a sentence later reduced to nine and a half years, in addition to a fine of $56,000 USD.
A leaked video of one of his early interrogation sessions revealed the brutal tactics used against a frightened 13-year-old boy. In the footage, Ahmad is seen weeping, facing a shouting interrogator, repeating in anguish: “I’m not sure” and “I don’t remember,” as the interrogator attempted to extract false confessions through intimidation and abuse.
Over the course of his imprisonment, Ahmad’s health deteriorated significantly due to the constant torture. He suffered from a hematoma in the skull, causing chronic headaches and intense pain. He was frequently denied visits from his family, deepening his psychological suffering.
In a previous interview, his lawyer Khaled Zabarqa recounted visiting him in solitary confinement in 2023:
“I saw a human being without a soul… I tried to comfort him, telling him: ‘There’s not much left, freedom is near.’ But Ahmad replied, ‘I wait only for death… I expect nothing from this life.’ Then, before I left, he asked: ‘Are you sure suicide is forbidden in Islam?’”
Ahmad Manasra’s case stands as yet another painful testament to the brutal violations committed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian prisoners—a stark reminder of the urgent need for international action to put an end to these crimes.
