RAMALLAH, November 12, 2026 (WAFA) – Israeli authorities handed over on Thursday the body of 17-year-old Palestinian detainee Walid Khaled Ahmad, from the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah, following a decision to release his body after legal efforts by Nadia Daqa, a lawyer with the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.
Ahmad died in March 2025 inside Megiddo Prison, approximately six months after his detention, amid reports that he had been subjected to starvation and denied medical treatment and healthcare, leading to a severe deterioration in his health.
In December 2025, an Israeli court in Hadera decided to close the investigation into the circumstances of his death, claiming that all avenues had been exhausted, despite medical findings confirming that he had been subjected to starvation and that his health had deteriorated before his death.
Following the handover of Ahmad's body, Israeli authorities continue to withhold the bodies of 98 Palestinian prisoners who have died in custody since 1967.
Since the start of the genocidal war, 92 Palestinian prisoners and detainees have died, with the bodies of 87 of them still being withheld by Israeli authorities.
Regarding the targeting of child detainees, figures provided by the Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner's Society indicate that around 350 children are currently held in Ofer and Megiddo prisons. Like other Palestinian prisoners, they face a range of violations and punitive measures, including starvation, torture, physical assaults, denial of medical treatment and healthcare, and harsh detention conditions. Violations against them have escalated since the start of the genocidal war.
Both organizations affirmed that the case of child detainee Walid Ahmad provides further evidence of the crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons and the role of Israel's judicial system in shielding those responsible. They renewed their calls for the release of all withheld bodies and for accountability for crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Y.S
