450 Palestinian children detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank this year: report

Some 450 Palestinian children have been detained by Israel since the start of 2022, the Committee for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs (CDA) said.

Most of the child detainees are from east Jerusalem, numbering at 353, while others are from remaining villages, towns and cities across of the occupied West Bank, the report said.

The committee stated that Israeli occupation authorities are currently holding 170 children across prisons and detention centres, in addition to those who are no longer minors and have now become adults, notably Ahmed Manasra, a 20-year-old Palestinian man who was detained by Israeli forces at the age of 13 and sentenced to 12 years in prison on terrorism charges.

Those charges were recently dropped amid international outcry.

Moreover, the committee stressed that Israeli forces do not respect nor adhere to standard rules regarding treatment of young Palestinian detainees, due to reports of harassment, abuse and lengthy periods spent in detention centres. The committee also said that by doing so, Israel aims to "distort children's realities" and "destroy their future".

The report pointed out that Israeli forces routinely arrest minors from their homes during overnight raids, as they play in the streets, or on their way to school, often for "throwing stones".

Occupation forces use arbitrary methods such as torture in order to extract false confessions, the committee added.

The Committee for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs also urged the international community and global institutions specialised in children’s rights to work on providing protection for Palestinian minors who are subjected to arbitrary detentions at the hands of Israeli forces.

Israel is the only global entity that puts Palestinian children on trial before military courts every year, with an estimate of 500 to 700 minors. Israel maintains a military judicial system across the occupied West Bank which targets both Palestinian adults and children, drawing condemnation from human rights organisations.

Palestinians are often subjected to both daily and nightly raids by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, which have been illegally occupied since Israel’s invasion in 1967. Forces carried out increased and widespread raids earlier this year, following a series of attacks in Israel that left several people dead, and killed more than 20 Palestinians.

Israeli forces often refuse to disclose their reasons of apprehending children, which can lead to lengthy periods under administrative detention.