The Israeli regime has detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since October 2023, according to a comprehensive report released on Wednesday by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society. The human rights organization asserted that Israeli authorities continue to escalate their systematic targeting of Palestinian minors, with at least 350 children currently facing severe and deteriorating conditions within Israeli detention facilities.

On Tuesday alone, Israeli forces reportedly arrested at least six children from Hebron in the occupied West Bank. The organization noted that obtaining accurate figures regarding the number of children arrested in the besieged Gaza Strip remains exceptionally difficult, given the thousands of missing persons, including minors, and the ongoing enforcement of disappearance policies in the enclave. The rights group stated that the Israeli policy of administrative detention—holding individuals indefinitely without official charges or a defined release date—constitutes an additional severe violation that plunges children into uncertainty while depriving them of basic family and educational stability. The report details abusive practices allegedly beginning with intimidation and arbitrary arrest, extending systematically to torture, starvation, and the deliberate denial of healthcare.

Highlighting individual tragedies, the organization pointed to the case of 15-year-old Mohammed Hamid, who contracted scabies while detained in Ofer Prison. He suffered severe infections, underwent subsequent heart surgery, was admitted to intensive care in critical condition, and ultimately had one of his legs amputated. The group also drew attention to the death of 17-year-old Walid Ahmed in March 2025 following six months of imprisonment in Megiddo Prison, noting that an Israeli judge halted the investigation into his death despite documented evidence of starvation.

Source: www.aljazeera.com