Walid was the eldest of four children, survived by his parents, one brother, and two sisters. He was a 12th-grade student with no prior health issues before his arrest. He was an athletic young man who played football at Al-Asour Academy in Silwad, participated in several local tournaments, and won multiple awards.
In the early hours of 30 September 2024, Israeli occupying forces raided the Ahmad family home in the Ras Baraka area of Silwad. After searching the house and damaging its contents, they arrested Walid despite his father presenting his Brazilian passport, which initially halted the abuse. Walid was taken to an abandoned building in the village before being transferred to Huwwara camp, and then, 48 hours later, removed from the occupied West Bank to Megiddo Prison in Israel (Section 4).
Walid was subjected to Israeli military court proceedings. During court hearings, his health visibly deteriorated: in the second session, he appeared weak due to malnutrition, and in the third session, he showed clear signs of illness.
During a court session on 10 February 2025, according to his father, Walid showed severe symptoms and reported suffering from scabies and an amoeba, requesting medical treatment. Some released prisoners confirmed that his condition had been stable before his death, but his family was unable to visit him due to a ban on visits imposed by the occupation authorities.
The head of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs warned on 25 March 2025 that the vast majority of minor prisoners in Megiddo Prison suffered from skin diseases such as scabies, in addition to another virus causing continuous diarrhoea, abdominal and stomach pain, and headaches.
The family received news of Walid's death on the evening of 23 March 2025. His body was autopsied at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute on 27 March 2025 in the presence of a family-appointed doctor.
On 3 April 2025, the Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Society Prisoners' Club published a statement holding the administration of Megiddo Prison responsible for committing a "compound crime" against the child. Deliberate starvation was identified as the central cause that cumulatively led to severe symptoms and his death.
Despite Walid being examined in December 2024 and February 2025 due to scabies, and later re-examined after complaining of insufficient food intake, on 22 March 2025, he lost consciousness. Only then was he transferred to the prison clinic, where resuscitation attempts failed, and he was declared dead.
The examinations revealed air emphysema and dense air accumulations extending to the heart membrane, neck, chest wall, abdomen, and intestines, along with severe wasting, a sunken abdomen, and complete loss of muscle mass and subcutaneous fat in the upper body and limbs. There were also multiple skin rashes caused by scabies, particularly on the lower limbs. The autopsy confirmed that starvation — including dehydration from insufficient water intake and fluid loss from diarrhoea caused by colitis — along with inflammation in the mediastinal tissues due to emphysema, collectively led to his death.
The Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Society Prisoners' Club emphasised that what happened to Walid Ahmad in Megiddo Prison constitutes a compound crime, beginning with his arrest, denial of fair trial, detention in harsh conditions, starvation, and denial of medical treatment — part of systematic medical neglect policies routinely implemented by the prison system since October 2023. They called on the international legal and human rights system to take effective action to hold Israeli leaders accountable for war crimes, impose sanctions, and end the state of impunity.
Based on the autopsy findings, the administration of Megiddo Prison bears primary responsibility for the death of Walid Ahmad due to the implementation of starvation policies that cumulatively led to severe medical deterioration and death. As of 17 April 2026, Walid's body is still being unlawfully withheld by Israel.