The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society released a report documenting the detention of more than 2,000 Palestinian children by Israeli forces since October 2023. The organization stated that Israeli authorities have escalated their targeting of Palestinian minors, with at least 350 children presently held in what it characterized as harsh conditions within Israeli prisons. The report noted that six children were arrested from Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
According to the rights group, precise figures for children arrested in Gaza remain uncertain due to the thousands of missing persons in the besieged territory, including minors, and ongoing practices of enforced disappearance. The organization contended that Israel’s detention practices without formal charges or specified release dates constitute violations and crimes that leave children facing uncertainty while being separated from family and educational opportunities. The report detailed a progression of practices beginning with arrest and intimidation, followed by allegations of torture, starvation, and denial of healthcare.
The organization presented specific cases to illustrate conditions within Israeli detention facilities. A 15-year-old detained at Ofer Prison contracted a contagious skin infection that developed into severe complications, requiring heart surgery and intensive care, ultimately resulting in limb amputation. A 17-year-old detainee died in March 2025 after six months in Megiddo Prison; an Israeli judge halted the subsequent investigation in December despite evidence of starvation, citing inability to establish a definitive cause of death.
The report also highlighted cases involving American citizens. One American teenager was taken from his West Bank home in a late-night raid in June and transferred from youth detention to adult facilities after turning 18. Another American minor arrested in July was set for release in August following bail arrangements but was not freed when authorities reversed the decision.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society called for international intervention to secure the release of arbitrarily detained children, establish investigations into alleged abuses, and end torture and denial of medical treatment in Israeli facilities. The organization noted that Israeli forces have detained more than 25,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and thousands more in Gaza since October 2023.
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