‘Psychologically tortured to the last minute’: Ahmad Manasra, arrested at 13, is finally free after a decade in Israeli prison by Qassam Muaddi

Israeli authorities released Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Manasra, 23, on Thursday after spending ten years in Israeli prison. Imprisoned at the age of 13, Manasra’s case drew international attention due to “legal inconsistencies in his trial, the deterioration of his psychological condition as a result of his cruel arrest and treatment in prison, and denying him treatment,” his lawyer, Ahmad Zabarqa, told Mondoweiss.

… The way the court handled Ahmad’s sentencing then formed a precedent for how Israeli courts would deal with Palestinian minors generally. “It was the first case of its kind,” Zabarqa pointed, “but later, Israeli courts practiced the same tactic of postponing the ruling and sentencing of minors according to their age in multiple cases — and they were always cases against Palestinian minors.”

… In April 2022, a short Palestinian film featured the case of Ahmad Manasra as an example of the 105,000 “empty places” left behind by Palestine’s prisoners and martyrs. After Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, the pre-October 7 prison population nearly doubled.