Family Voices Concern over Ill Palestinian Minor Held by Israel

Palestinian child prisoner Amal Nakhleh is suffering from an autoimmune disease that requires regular medication and medical attention. (Photo: via Social Media)

Family members of arrested Palestinian teenager Amal Nakhleh have voiced their fears that Israeli authorities could renew their ill son’s detention in a Monday hearing, AFP reported on Sunday.

Nakhleh, 17, suffers from myasthenia gravis, a rare chronic autoimmune, neuromuscular illness that causes muscle weakness, according to The New Arab.

Nakhleh was initially arrested on November 2, 2020, and charged with throwing stones, but was released 22 days later. He was re-arrested by Israeli forces from his home, during a night raid on January 12, 2021, and has been in administrative detention since then.

“Since his arrest last year I have only seen him twice, including last week when he told me he wanted to go on hunger strike,” his father Moammar said.

Amal will face a new hearing Monday, and his father is worried that his detention could be renewed.

“Israeli authorities must either file charges against Palestinian children or release them,” Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at Defense for Children International – Palestine, said in a statement last June.

Around 500 Palestinian prisoners are currently held by Israel in administrative detention, without charge or trial, according to the Palestinian prisoner support association Addameer.

(The Palestine Chronicle, The New Arab, Social Media)

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