The autopsy report for a 17-year-old Palestinian child detainee who died in Israeli custody at the end of March indicates that he likely died from a combination of starvation, dehydration from colitis-induced diarrhea, and infectious complications all compounded by prolonged malnutrition and denial of life saving medical intervention.
Walid Khalid Abdullah Ahmad, 17, died while held in Israeli custody in Megiddo prison in northern Israel on the morning of March 22 after collapsing in the prison yard, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International—Palestine. Post-mortem examination indicates Walid suffered from extreme body muscle and fat wasting, evidenced by a sunken abdomen, according to a doctor who attended the autopsy on behalf of Walid’s family. Walid also had scabies rashes on both legs and his groin, in addition to abrasions on his nose, chest, and right hip. The examination revealed that Walid had significant air collections in both his chest and abdominal cavities likely caused by blunt trauma, along with signs of inflammation likely caused by infection. There was also evidence of edema and congestion in his large intestine, consistent with traumatic injury—likely the result of beatings, which are frequently inflicted by Israeli prison guards on Palestinian child detainees.
“Walid’s autopsy indicates that Israeli prison guards systematically starved and abused him for months until he finally collapsed, struck his head, and died,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP.
Starvation is a tool of genocide, seeking to weaken and ultimately destroy both the body and spirit of Palestinian child detainees held in Israeli prisons. Walid’s death was not an accident—it is a crime and the international community must immediately intervene to apply sanctions against the Israeli government to force accountability.
The autopsy report, which was conducted at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv on March 27, states that Walid suffered from “extreme, likely prolonged malnutrition,” and that he likely suffered from an inflamed colon, leading to frequent diarrhea and severe dehydration. The autopsy also revealed a cut on Walid’s neck.
Walid was seen in the Megiddo prison clinic on December 30, 2024, and twice in February 2025 for the treatment of scabies, which he had since October, shortly after arriving at Megiddo. During the December visit, he reported head trauma and a severe lack of food available to detainees.
Doctors and medical staff associated with Megiddo clearly neglected to provide Walid with proper care for scabies, malnutrition, and dehydration. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, prisoners and detainees must be held in conditions that ensure adequate food, hygiene, medical care, and shelter at a standard equal to that in prisons of the occupied territory. Additionally, Israel is bound under international law to ensure regular medical inspections and adequate housing is provided. The medical neglect Walid endured further constitutes a clear violation of Israel’s obligations under international human rights law, which afforded him the right to life, right to health, and freedom from torture or cruel treatment.
On the morning of March 22, Walid collapsed and hit his head in the prison yard of Megiddo prison, located in northern Israel, where he had been held in pre-trial detention since the end of September 2024, according to information collected by DCIP. Other child detainees called toward Israeli prison guards for help, but they did not respond, so the children carried Walid to the yard’s gate where the guards took custody of him.
Walid was then brought to the prison clinic where medical staff attempted to resuscitate him with a defibrillator and adrenaline. He was pronounced dead at 9:10 a.m. Israeli authorities reported Walid’s death but did not share the cause.
Walid is the first Palestinian child to ever die inside Israeli prisons, according to documentation collected by DCIP. Israeli authorities are withholding his body from his family.
Conditions inside Israeli prisons have continued to seriously deteriorate since October 7, 2023, when Israeli authorities severely restricted access to the prisons and suspended family visits. Released Palestinian child detainees interviewed by DCIP report routine and brutal beatings, meager and rotten food, denial of access to the bathroom, and crowded, unsanitary cells.
Under international law, this ill-treatment, especially of a child, is not only fundamentally illegal but is also considered torture. Israel has systemically employed torture as a method of punishment and intimidation against Palestinians, including children, for decades. Israel is accelerating its subversion of the rule of law and disregarding basic humanity with impunity.