Israel fines Palestinian minors $10,000 in April

Israeli authorities imposed an estimated 36,000 shekels ($10,000) worth of fines upon Palestinian minors imprisoned in the Ofer prison, located in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah, during “late April”, according to the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs.

A lawyer of the committee, Luay Akka, said in a statement yesterday that 62 Palestinian minors were detained and taken to Ofer prison during April.

Of the 62 detained, 23 were detained from their homes, 34 from the streets, two at checkpoints, two after being summoned for interrogation, and one in Israel for not having an entry permit, the statement said.

Read: Solitary confinement of Palestinian minors reflects plight of adults in Israeli jails

Akka noted that more than half of the detainees were assaulted during their detention, and that sentences have been issued against 16 of the minors, varying between a month and seven months in prison, while the remaining 46 are still awaiting trial.

According to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, as of April, there were 6,300 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails, 300 of whom were minors.