Palestinian teen hospitalized in critical condition; Israel initially barred parents' visit

A 16-year-old Palestinian minor, Mohamed Suleiman, required hospitalization in critical condition after months of detention without trial, with Israeli authorities initially prohibiting his parents from visiting him. The situation came to light when the NGO Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) appealed the case to the Supreme Court.

Suleiman had been held for months in Israel's Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank on security grounds. On July 25, he was transferred to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem in critical condition, requiring emergency surgery and remaining sedated and on a respirator, according to a PHRI statement. Three days later, PHRI and the adolescent's lawyers requested permission for his parents, residents of the West Bank, to visit him in Jerusalem.

“

It is lamentable that it has been necessary to file this appeal to guarantee the parents' visit to the hospital.

The request was denied because the parents lacked the necessary permits to enter Israel from the West Bank, a territory with over 900 Israeli military checkpoints and barriers restricting Palestinian movement. Furthermore, prison staff reportedly refused to remove Suleiman's handcuffs during his first week in the hospital, even while he was unconscious, a source close to the event told the Haaretz newspaper.

On July 29, PHRI and Suleiman's parents filed an appeal with the Israeli Supreme Court, seeking an immediate order for visitation. The following day, the state responded, informing the court that it had requested the minor's release. After an urgent hearing, authorities issued permits for the parents to visit their son at the hospital, and the military prosecution agreed to his release. The court noted the unfortunate necessity of the appeal to secure the visit and release, suggesting these actions might not have occurred without the Supreme Court's urgent intervention and the drastic deterioration of Suleiman's health.

“

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that, if his condition had not deteriorated so drastically, and if the Supreme Court had not intervened urgently, the decisions to allow his parents to see him and to release him perhaps would never have been made.