Palestinian Prisoners’ Club says Israel has detained over 2,000 children since October 2023

Israeli authorities have detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, with at least 350 children remaining in custody, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the independent Palestinian human rights organization said detained children face harsh conditions, including torture, food deprivation, isolation and denial of medical care.

The organisation reported that Israeli forces detained at least six Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank overnight, primarily in the towns of Sa’ir and Al-Shuyukh in the Hebron Governorate.

It said the arrests were part of an ongoing campaign of detentions targeting Palestinian minors.

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The Prisoners’ Club noted that its figures do not include all children detained from the Gaza Strip, citing cases of enforced disappearance and the unknown whereabouts of numerous detainees and missing persons, including children.

The organisation also raised concerns about the use of administrative detention, which allows individuals to be held without formal charges or a specified release date.

It said the practice deprives detained children of family stability and access to education while leaving them uncertain about the duration of their detention.

The Prisoners’ Club argued that violations against Palestinian children extend beyond detention conditions and interrogation practices to the broader custodial and judicial system.

It accused Israeli courts of facilitating these practices and criticized what it described as a lack of meaningful accountability for abuses against detained minors.

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