Palestinian Teen Tortured by Israeli Soldiers Loses Leg After Brutal Detention

A 13-year-old Palestinian boy, Mahmoud al-Dura, was shot and tortured by Israeli soldiers in October 2025. His ordeal lasted for hours before his eventual release, but the injuries he sustained led to the amputation of his leg. The incident is part of a series of violent events affecting his family over the past year.

On 25 October 2025, Mahmoud al-Dura was gathering wood with friends in Bureij refugee camp when Israeli soldiers opened fire. A bullet struck his right leg, causing severe injury. While his friends managed to flee, Mahmoud was captured and taken into custody.

The soldiers transported him on a wooden board to a detention facility near the border. There, he endured nine hours of torture. His injured leg was bound with metal wires, and soldiers repeatedly pressed and kicked the wound. During the abuse, they drank cans of Coca-Cola, even pouring one over his open injury.

At one point, the soldiers questioned Mahmoud, asking if he was the son of Jamal al-Dura—a reference to his father, whose 12-year-old son Muhammad was killed in 2000. Before releasing him, they showed Mahmoud photos of his parents' ID cards and threatened to kill them.

Mahmoud's injuries were so severe that, after his release, doctors amputated his leg above the thigh due to irreversible tendon damage. The violence against his family continued: on 12 January 2025, the Israeli army demolished Jamal al-Dura's five-story home in Bureij camp. This followed another tragedy on 17 January 2024, when Mahmoud's brother Ahmad was killed by an Israeli drone strike while returning from their aunt's funeral.

Mahmoud al-Dura now lives with the permanent loss of his leg, a direct result of the torture he endured. His family has faced repeated violence, including the destruction of their home and the killing of his brother. The events remain part of an ongoing pattern of conflict in the region.