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LONDON: Human rights groups in the US have urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to secure the release of a Palestinian-American boy imprisoned in Israel.

Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim, 16, of Palm Bay, Florida, has been held for six months without charge over allegations of rock throwing in the occupied West Bank.

More than 100 groups — including the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights and Pax Christi USA — warned Rubio that the boy’s health is deteriorating and he needs to be freed.

“Mohammed is an American child with a community in Florida who cares about him deeply,” they wrote to the secretary of state. “It is the responsibility of the US government to protect all American children, including Palestinian-Americans.”

Ibrahim was just 15 when Israeli soldiers detained him at his family’s home in the West Bank.
His father contacted Mike Haridopolos, Republican congressman for Florida, after 45 days without contact with his son. Haridopolos’s office shared details of the case with the State Department.

US Embassy officials in Israel were “following standard procedures,” the family was told, and had sent representatives to meet the boy in prison, where they reported he had lost 25 lb and developed scabies.

Ibrahim’s cousin Sayfollah Musallet, 20, was killed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank in July.

The Guardian reported that Ibrahim is accused of throwing rocks at military vehicles on at least two occasions, according to court documents. He is due for a hearing on Oct. 29.

Ibrahim is being held at Ofer prison, having previously been in Megiddo prison, where a 17-year-old Palestinian died in April. Both have been described by human rights groups as having abusive conditions.

“Mohammed traveled to his family’s home in the West Bank for a family vacation to see loved ones,” the group wrote in its letter.
“The Israeli military took Mohammed when he was only 15 years old, forcing him to spend his 16th birthday in an Israeli military prison, terrified and separated from his parents.”

They added that his detention breaks the Fourth Geneva Convention’s ban on transferring detainees from occupied territory to the territory of an occupying power.

“Dozens of Palestinian-American families own land in the West Bank — Palestinian cities and villages that are increasingly being targeted by Israeli settlers and the Israeli military,” the groups said.
“Yet, Palestinian-American families are not receiving any protection from the US government against rising Israeli settler and Israeli military violence against them.”

In August, a billboard advertisement in Times Square, New York City, was put up by the ADC to highlight Ibrahim’s case. It featured an image of him with the words “unjustly imprisoned by Israel” emblazoned on it.

Defense for Children International-Palestine says at least 323 Palestinian children aged 17 or younger are being held in Israeli jails.

A State Department spokesperson said in a statement: “Whenever a US citizen is detained abroad, the Department works to provide consular assistance in accordance with US and international law.”

The spokesperson added: “If we become aware of an arrest of any US citizen, including a minor, we will provide consular services, including prison visits.”

BEIRUT: Lebanon will present a plan on Sunday aimed at persuading Hezbollah to disarm, with Israel expected to submit a corresponding framework for its military withdrawal, top US envoy Thomas Barrack said on Tuesday.

Speaking after talks with President Joseph Aoun in Beirut, Barrack said the Lebanese proposal would not involve military coercion but would focus on efforts to encourage Hezbollah to surrender its weapons — including addressing the economic impact on fighters funded by Iran.

“The Lebanese army and government are not talking about going to war. They are talking about how to convince Hezbollah to give up those arms,” Barrack said.

A move this month by the Lebanese cabinet to task the army with drawing up a plan to establish a state monopoly on arms has outraged heavily armed Hezbollah, which says such calls only serve Israel.

Israel signalled on Monday it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if Lebanon’s armed forces took action to disarm the Iran-backed Shiite militant group.

Barrack, who met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, described that development as “historic.”

“What Israel has now said is: we don’t want to occupy Lebanon. We’re happy to withdraw from Lebanon, and we will meet those withdrawal expectations with our plan as soon as we see what is the plan to actually disarm Hezbollah,” he said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, after meeting the US delegation, said Lebanon had embarked on an irreversible path to place all weapons under state control, with the army due to present a comprehensive plan by next week.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem, in a recorded speech aired on Monday, criticized the government’s decision to disarm the group and urged officials to reverse it, saying pulling back “would be a virtue.”

While no formal proposals have been exchanged, Barrack said verbal commitments from both sides suggested a narrowing path toward implementation.

Economic consideration

Hezbollah was significantly weakened in last year’s war with Israel, which killed many of its top commanders and fighters. A US-brokered ceasefire ending the conflict obliges the Lebanese state to disarm all non-state armed groups.

Israel, meanwhile, has held on to positions inside Lebanon and its military has continued to carry out periodic air strikes it says target Hezbollah militants and weapons.

Qassem rejected a step-by-step framework under which an Israeli withdrawal and Hezbollah disarmament would proceed in parallel.

Qassem said Hezbollah would not discuss a national defense strategy until Israel fully implemented the ceasefire agreement signed on November 27.

“Let them implement the (ceasefire) agreement ... then after that we will discuss the defense strategy,” Qassem said.

Barrack stressed that any disarmament initiative must address the economic impact on tens of thousands of Hezbollah fighters and their families, many of whom rely on Iranian funding.

“If we’re asking a portion of the Lebanese community to give up their livelihood — because when we say disarm Hezbollah, we’re talking about 40,000 people being paid by Iran — you can’t just take their weapons and say, ‘Good luck, go plant olive trees’. We have to help them.”

He said Gulf states, including Qatar and ��������, were prepared to support Lebanon’s economy — particularly in the south, which is Hezbollah’s stronghold — as part of an initiative to provide alternatives to Hezbollah’s payroll system.

Barrack said discussions were under way to build an “economic forum” backed by the Gulf, the US, and Lebanese authorities that would offer sustainable livelihoods “not determined by whether Iran wants it or not.”