Autistic Israeli teen arrested for allegedly making explosives, contacting Hamas and ISIS

Israel Police said that a 14-year-old autistic boy who has been held as a security detainee for two weeks is suspected of trying to make explosive devices, contacting Hamas and ISIS, and photographing security sites in Israel for the groups.

The gag order that had previously been imposed on details of the investigation has now been lifted.

The minor’s mother stated that her son is “only 14 years old, suffers from 100 percent autism, and has officially recognized and documented mental and physical disabilities by the National Insurance Institute. He is not a terrorist and poses no danger to anyone,” she added, saying that the child is “completely dependent on his mother for care and support.”

She demanded that her son be released immediately and allowed to undergo an independent psychiatric evaluation by a neutral professional.

The boy, a resident of the central Israeli city of Jaffa who was arrested in Ramallah, is suspected of conspiracy and membership in a terrorist organization.

On Thursday, the minor was interrogated about his complaints against prison guards.

Attorney Yigal Dotan, who is representing the boy on behalf of the public defender’s office, said earlier this week that the boy struggles with communication and orientation difficulties.

“He complains to me about severe violence by guards and subhuman conditions,” the lawyer said, referring to the Russian Compound in Jerusalem.

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“This violence he described to me is something I’m familiar with from security detainees since October 7, 2023, and it seems that the fact he is a helpless juvenile, according to the definition, hasn’t convinced the center’s guards to have mercy on him,” he added.

“The minor’s situation has worsened since the last extension of his detention, and now he is saying that other detainees are abusing him, and he’s also experiencing constant hunger and cold.”

The Israel Prison Service said in response: “The detainee is held in keeping with the court’s decision, and his rights are being fully upheld. He receives appropriate care, including equipment, clothes, food and hygienic supplies, as needed.”

Saja Misherqi Baransi, an attorney with the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel’s legal department, visited the teen on Monday. She said he was handcuffed, with guards holding his hands above his head and treating him like a security prisoner, despite his small stature.

Misherqi Baransi told Haaretz the teen was treated in a brutal and humiliating fashion, was beaten by both guards and other prisoners and is being bullied. The teen’s “physical and mental state are poor, and he complains about pain in his throat and head, as well as the cold. He says he doesn’t have a mattress, just a blanket, and he sleeps on the concrete. The food is scarce, and he has no privacy,” she said.

Earlier this week, the mother told Haaretz that her son was arrested while they were visiting a relative in Ramallah, when around 5:00 A.M., “dozens of IDF soldiers broke into the house.”

“They entered the children’s room, pointed guns and flashlights at them. The boy was shaking, he couldn’t stand up from fear,” she said. “Then they made a mess, didn’t search for anything, just took the phones and computers of the whole family.”

The mother said her son was handcuffed and taken from the house. She said she was also detained by Israeli forces, but released after a short drive.

“He has never gotten into trouble for anything,” the mother added. “He’s a child who’s afraid to leave the house. In our house, we don’t even talk about religion and politics. I don’t understand what they want from him.”

On Wednesday, she told Haaretz that she “waits by the phone all day, afraid they’ll call and tell me something happened to him.”