The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, and its Florida chapter (CAIR-FL) today welcomed a new congressional letter signed by 27 U.S. senators and representatives urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee to intervene immediately to secure the release of 16-year-old Palestinian-American Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim, a U.S. citizen from Florida who has been held without trial by Israeli authorities since February.
According to a new report issued yesterday by Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), Mohammed has suffered severe weight loss, scabies, and signs of torture during his imprisonment at Megiddo and Ofer Prisons, where hearings have been repeatedly postponed.
READ THE LETTER: CLICK HERE
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Statement from CAIR-FL Deputy Executive Director Hiba Rahim:
“We thank the 27 members of Congress who spoke up for an American child enduring the unimaginable. The abuse and imprisonment of a Florida teenager by any foreign military power should be met with outrage and decisive action. Secretary Rubio and Ambassador Huckabee have a duty to bring this young man home. Mohammed Ibrahim should be in school with his friends – not locked in an Israeli military prison notorious for starvation and torture.”
Statement from CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert S. McCaw:
“This congressional letter sends a powerful message: the United States must defend its citizens wherever they are. The mistreatment of Mohammed Ibrahim violates international law, human decency, and our own government’s stated duty to protect Americans abroad. We thank every lawmaker who raised their voice and urge all Americans to do the same by taking action today to help bring Mohammed home.”
Earlier today, CAIR and CAIR-FL issued a press release calling on the Trump administration to force the Israeli government to release Mohammed Ibrahim after reports of his mistreatment and deteriorating health in detention.
Over the past two days, CAIR and CAIR-FL staff have been on Capitol Hill meeting with congressional offices to press for Mohammed’s release and to urge lawmakers to hold Israeli authorities accountable for the abuse of American citizens.
The new congressional letter, by Senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley, expresses grave concern over Mohammed Ibrahim’s ongoing detention and mistreatment. Israeli forces seized the teenager at gunpoint from his family home in al-Mazra’a ash-Sharqiyah, near Ramallah, at 3 a.m. on February 16, 2025, when he was 15 years old.
Lawmakers also cited the Israeli Supreme Court’s September 7 ruling confirming that Palestinian detainees have been deprived of even a minimum subsistence diet and warned that Mohammed’s case mirrors that of 17-year-old Walid Ahmad, who died in Megiddo Prison in March after enduring similar abuse. The letter urges immediate U.S. diplomatic engagement to secure Mohammed’s release and requests a formal response by November 3.
Connection to Murder of Palestinian American Sayfollah Musallet: Mohammed is also the first cousin of murdered U.S. citizen Sayfollah (“Saif”) Musallet, who was beaten to death by illegal Israeli settlers in July 2025. His family and advocates believe Mohammed’s continued imprisonment is part of a broader campaign of Israeli military retaliation and collective punishment against Palestinians, including American citizens, following that killing.
In September, CAIR and more than 100 U.S. faith-based, human rights, and civil rights organizations sent a joint coalition letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging urgent action to free Mohammed Ibrahim.
READ THE COALITION LETTER: CAIR-Florida Joins Over 100 Faith, Human Rights, and Civil Rights Groups in Calling on Secretary Rubio to Secure Release of 16-Year-Old Florida Child Imprisoned by Israel
CAIR and CAIR-FL also expressed appreciation to American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and participants of its 11th Annual Palestine Advocacy Days, held October 19–21 in Washington, D.C., where advocates from across the country elevated Mohammed Ibrahim’s case on Capitol Hill and urged members of Congress to act.
CAIR and CAIR-FL will not stop advocating until Mohammed Ibrahim is free and back home with his family.
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CONTACT: Megan Amer, CAIR-Florida Policy Director, (813) 440-1028, m-amer@cair.com; Hiba Rahim, CAIR-Florida Deputy Executive Director, (813) 705-5440, hrahim@cair.com; CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com