Egypt Daily News – Two Palestinian human rights organizations stated on Thursday that the results of the autopsy of the body of the young man Walid Ahmad (17 years old), who died after being transferred from Megiddo prison to the prison clinic, showed that starvation was a primary cause of his death.
The Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission, part of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and the Prisoner Club stated in a joint statement: “The examinations revealed the presence of air swelling and dense air clusters extending to the heart membrane, neck, chest and abdominal walls, and intestines, along with severe atrophy, a sunken abdomen, and complete absence of muscle mass and fat beneath the skin in the upper part of the body and limbs.”
The statement added that the autopsy also revealed “numerous spots of a rash caused by scabies, specifically on the lower limbs and other areas of his body.”
Walid was arrested on September 30 from his home in the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah, and remained detained until his death on March 22. The autopsy was conducted at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute last Thursday, with the presence of a doctor from the Physicians for Human Rights organization.
The joint statement mentioned that the death occurred despite “Walid being examined in December 2024 and February 2025 due to his condition of scabies, and being examined again due to his complaint of not receiving enough food.”
The statement added that Walid was only transferred to the prison clinic on March 22 after losing consciousness, where “the attempt to revive him failed,” and his death was declared.
Recently released Palestinian detainees from Israeli prisons have complained of a lack of sufficient food, in addition to overcrowding in the detention rooms. Photos of detainees before their arrest and after their release reveal a clear loss of weight.
There have been numerous statements from Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, in which he boasted about taking various measures to tighten restrictions on Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons after October 7, 2023.
The Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission and the Prisoner Club said in their joint statement: “What happened to the martyr child Walid Ahmad in Megiddo prison is a compounded crime, starting with his arrest and detention in difficult and tragic conditions, his starvation, and his deprivation of treatment, which falls under the framework of systematic medical crimes carried out by the prison system.”
The statement added, “What happened to him is a new indicator of the extent of the brutality faced by prisoners inside Israeli occupation prisons, including hundreds of detained children.”
No comment has been issued by the relevant Israeli authorities regarding the results of the autopsy or the content of the statement.
Official Palestinian statistics indicate that Israel detains nearly “ten thousand Palestinians, including 350 children and 26 female prisoners.”
