An Israeli judge has ruled that the Palestinian minor prisoner, Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmed, most likely died of starvation in Israel’s Megiddo prison, despite the closure of the controversial investigation into his death.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed details surrounding the death of 17-year-old Palestinian prisoner Walid Ahmed from the village of Silwad, inside Israel's Megiddo prison. Despite Judge Ehud Kaplan's decision to close the investigation due to a lack of conclusive evidence linking Ahmed's poor health to his death, he acknowledged that it was "most likely" Ahmed died of starvation.
The judge wrote: "The fact that he suffered from malnutrition cannot be hidden," referring to his pathological thinness.
Haaretz explained that the autopsy suggested he died from an intestinal infection that led to organ failure, but severe weight loss weakened his immune system. Israel continues to hold his body despite his Brazilian citizenship and a petition to the Supreme Court for its release.
Lawyer Nadia Daqqa confirmed to Haaretz that the boy died as a result of starvation at the hands of the prison authorities, warning of the recurrence of such cases without any response from the authorities. The newspaper also revealed the suffering of other prisoners in Megiddo prison, where five of them experienced symptoms similar to Ahmed's before his death.
Among the cases was a minor who was released after losing 20 kilograms of weight, bringing his body mass index down to 15.2, while the normal minimum is 18.5, in a report that described his condition as serious and life-threatening due to malnutrition and anemia, highlighting the low humanitarian situation inside Israeli prisons.
