Tel Aviv: Starvation was likely the leading cause of death for a Palestinian teenager who died in an Israeli prison, according to an Israeli doctor who observed the autopsy.
Seventeen-year-old Walid Ahmad, who had been held for six months without being charged, suffered from extreme malnutrition and also showed signs of inflammation of the colon and scabies, said a report written by Dr Daniel Solomon, who watched the autopsy, conducted by Israeli experts, at the request of the boy's family.
According to a report obtained by the Associated Press from Ahmad's family, the cause of death remains undetermined. noted Ahmad's severe weight loss and muscle wasting, with concerns about inadequate prison food since December. Palestinian officials said he died after collapsing and hitting his head in Megiddo Prison, citing eyewitness accounts from other prisoners. Israel's prison service said a team was appointed to investigate Ahmad's death and its findings would be sent to the authorised authorities.
The autopsy was conducted on March 27 at Israel's Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, which has not released a report of its findings and did not respond to requests for comment. The Ahmad family's lawyer, Nadia Daqqa, confirmed Solomon, a gastrointestinal surgeon, was granted permission to observe the autopsy by an Israeli civil court.
Ahmad was arrested in a pre-dawn raid in the West Bank in September for allegedly throwing stones at soldiers.
Widespread abuse in Israeli prisons, rights groups say Rights groups have documented widespread abuse in Israeli detention facilities holding thousands of Palestinians who were rounded up after Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack ignited the war in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Authority says Israel holds 72 Palestinian prisoners' bodies, including 61 who died since the war began.
Israel's prison service claims to operate by the law, providing basic rights. However, Ahmad's lawyer said his client suffered from severe diarrhoea, vomiting, headaches, and dizziness before death, possibly due to dirty water and spoilt food during Ramadan. He was reportedly malnourished and frail.
According to Dr Solomon's report, the autopsy showed Ahmad likely had colitis, an inflammation of the large intestine that can cause diarrhoea. Medical experts say colitis is unlikely to cause death in young patients, but Ahmad's severe malnutrition likely worsened the condition.
Scabies rashes were also noted on his legs and genital area, the report said. There was also air between his lungs that expanded into his neck and back, it said, which can cause infection. Air can come from small tears in the lungs, which can occur from severe vomiting or coughing, it said.
Ahmad's family said he was a healthy high schooler who enjoyed playing soccer before he was taken into custody. His father, Khalid Ahmad, said his son sat through four brief court hearings by videoconference, and he noticed at one of them, in February, that his son appeared to be in poor health.
The family hasn't yet received a death certificate from Israel, the elder Ahmad said Friday, and are hoping Dr Solomon's report will help bring his son's body home.
“We will demand our son's body for burial," he said. “What is happening in Israeli prisons is a real tragedy, as there is no value for life.”
(inputs from PTI)