An Israeli judge has acknowledged that Waleed Ahmad, a Palestinian teenager who died in Israel’s Megiddo Prison in March 2025, was “likely starved” to death. Despite that admission, the judge closed the investigation into the child’s death.
Judge Ehud Kaplan of Hadera Magistrate Court claimed that the investigation could not prove a direct link between Ahmad’s poor health and his death, despite the fact that the child was in good health before he was imprisoned by Israel. The judge cited autopsy results from Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine (Abu Kabir), found Ahmad severely underweight, with scabies and infections, but listed his precise cause of death as undetermined.
Despite closing the case, police claim an investigation is ongoing. Ahmad’s body remains in Israeli custody. Efforts by Brazilian authorities and legal petitions filed by attorney Nadia Dakka seek its release. Dakka told Haaretz, “This boy died because he was starved to death by Israel’s Prison Service. Conditions like these have continued, and prisoners still die under similar circumstances.”
Ahmad, a Brazilian citizen from Silwad in the West Bank, was detained for six months before his death. He was accused of “throwing a firebomb.” His autopsy revealed severe malnutrition and extreme weight loss in the months prior to his death.
Israel holds over 10,000 Palestinian detainees and hostages, including over 350 children, in its prisons. Since October 7, at least 88 Palestinian detainees and hostages were killed in Israeli detention due to beatings, torture, and medical neglect. Rights organizations estimate that the total number of deaths inside prisons may reach around 100, describing the situation as a blatant violation of human rights. Many bodies of Gaza detainees remain under forced disappearance, while dozens more have been executed on the spot.
