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Israel releases Ahmad Manasra, arrested at 13, after a nearly a decade in prison.
Israel on Thursday released Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Manasra, who was detained at the age of 13 for taking part in a stabbing attack in East Jerusalem and held in isolation for long periods during nearly 10 years in prison.
His family waited for him outside Nafha Prison, but were then told he had been released in Beersheba, about 50 kilometre, the Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported.
Mr Manasra was arrested and convicted of attempted murder after he and his cousin Hassan, 15, entered East Jerusalem carrying knives in 2015. Hassan stabbed an Israeli man and wounded a 13-year-old Israeli boy before he was shot dead by police.
A video of the incident widely shared online showed Mr Manasra, who was run over by a car, bleeding on the ground as Israeli soldiers pinned him down. He was initially sentenced to 12 years in prison and a fine of 180,000 shekels ($47,900) as his case was classified a “terrorism case” by the Israeli Supreme Court, but the sentence was reduced to nine-and-a-half years in 2017.
In 2022, his mother was able to see him at close enough quarters to touch him through an opening in the solitary confinement cell he was kept in. “For the first time in seven years, I am touching my son,” she said in a video posted on social media.
After several years in prison Mr Manasra was diagnosed with psychological conditions including schizophrenia, psychosis and severe depression. His lawyer, Khaled Zabarqa, said he did not have immediate information about Mr Manasra’s condition after his release, but said he was with his parents.
“We know in jail he’s been very ill. We’re waiting to know his health situation now,” he said.