Washington, DC – Mohammed Ibrahim is just a normal child who loves his family and loves photography, say his loved ones.
But the American Palestinian teenager spent his 16th birthday last March in an Israeli prison, despite demonstrations pleading for his release.
His father, Zaher Ibrahim, believes that the United States government can release Mohammed and put an end to his test with a single telephone call, given the billions of dollars in military aid he sends to Israel each year.
“But we are nothing for them,” Zaher told Tel Aviv Tribune said on Wednesday.
Zaher and other family members said that when he was imprisoned, Mohammed had lost weight and suffered from a skin infection. While US officials visited the teenager, the Israeli authorities otherwise refused contact with the outside world.
The adolescent family – based in Florida and West Bank – warned that his life could be at risk and that they are calling on the United States to obtain their release.
The case has drew attention in recent weeks, members of the congress and the rights for defending Trump to put pressure on Mohammed’s freedom.
‘An American child’
On Tuesday, more than 100 plea groups – including the American -Islamic Relations Council (CAIR), IFNOTNOW, a new policy and Pax Christi USA – sent a letter to the Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling for the Liberation of Mohammed.
“For 6 months, the Israeli army is unfairly imprisoned Mohammed, a child, without trial, forcing his parents to live a non-stop nightmare. Israel has not authorized Mohammed’s parents to contact him since he was taken,” said the letter.
“Mohammed is an American child with a community in Florida who cares deeply about him. It is the responsibility of the American government to protect all American children, including the Palestinians-Americans. ”
Israeli soldiers went down to Mohammed’s family home in the West Bank in February. According to loved ones, Mohammed went to Florida for a vacation, but the troops blinded her and arrested him.
He was then accused of throwing stones on Israeli settlers, an accusation he denies.
Since his arrest, his relatives say that he has lost almost a quarter of his body weight. He also contracted scabies, a skin infection that causes extreme itching and rashes through the body. US officials, they say, offer them updates to their condition.
“It’s difficult,” Ibrahim told Tel Aviv Tribune. “When you sit down to get your meal, you think: has he had his meal today?”
Even an American representative of a district near the house of Florida de Mohammed was involved in the push of his freedom. On Tuesday, MP Kathy Castor, who represents an area which includes the city of Tampa, called for her release safely.
“I urge the Trump administration to do everything in its power to obtain the release of Mohammed Ibrahim – a child, an American citizen and a Floridian,” said Castor in a statement, without mentioning Israel.
My declaration on the detention of Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim: pic.twitter.com/cjzikjd3ub
– American representative Kathy Castor (@usrepkcastor) August 26, 2025
Mohammed is the cousin of Sayfollah Musallet, 20, an American citizen who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in July.
Zaher told Tel Aviv Tribune that two Democratic senators, Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley, met the families of Mohammed and Sayfollah on Tuesday.
Khamis Ayyad, American citizen and father of five, was also killed in an attack on settlers in the West Bank in July.
Since 2022, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 10 American citizens. None of the cases led to criminal charges.
“Where is our protection?”
Relatives of Mohammed expressed their consternation in the face of the apparent reluctance of the United States government to protect its citizens from Israel.
Zeyad Kadur, Mohammed’s uncle, attracted a contrast between the teenager’s in progress and the case of the Israeli official Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, who was released on bail in the United States and authorized to leave the country despite serious sexual crimes.
“Mohammed is accused of pretending to have launched a rock; an Israeli was arrested for pedophile in Las Vegas, and he returned to Israel,” Kadur told Tel Aviv Tribune.
“Why should this double standard be there, even when a child is involved?”
The US State Department refused to comment in detail the case of Mohammed, citing confidentiality problems.
On Wednesday, when Rubio met his counterpart Gideon Saar in Washington, DC, a journalist asked him questions about Mohammed. The US high diplomat did not respond.
Leali Shalabi, the cousin of Mohammed, said that the unconditional support of the United States government in Israel at the expense of its own citizens should be a “wake -up” for the Americans across the country.
She also questioned Trump’s “America First” motto, saying that her support from Israel is undergoing American interests.
“When these are people who look like us, we are not put first,” Shalabi told Tel Aviv Tribune.
While Israel proceeds a military assault in Gaza that the main rights defense groups have described as a genocide, his troops have also intensified their attacks in the West Bank. The violence of the colonists has also increased in the territory.
The cases of Mohammed and his Sayfollah cousin show that American citizens are not spared, say their families.
“We hold this passport. We pay our taxes. But where is our protection? ” Said Shalabi.
