[25 April 2024] – On 22 April 2024, the US State Department published the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Israel, West Bank and Gaza (2023) (The Report). The Report is mandated by Congress and documents human rights conditions in nearly 200 countries and territories. Staff in US embassies around the world compile the information contained in the Report. As in previous years the Report highlights human rights violations by multiple actors in the region and considers the treatment of Palestinian children held in Israeli military detention.

• Use of military courts - The State Department notes that: Israel prosecutes Palestinian men, women and children (12-17 years) from the West Bank in military courts with a conviction rate of at least 96 percent. While Israel relies on the Fourth Geneva Convention to justify using military courts, international humanitarian law only permits their use on a temporary basis in a situation of military occupation. Be that as it may, Israeli military courts in the West Bank have been prosecuting Palestinian civilians since 7 June 1967.
   
• Torture and ill-treatment - The State Department notes that: more than 67 percent of Palestinian children detained in the West Bank reported being subjected to various forms of physical abuse during arrest, transfer, or interrogation. Most children were arrested in night raids, and Israeli forces used physical abuse, strip searches, threats of violence, hand ties, and blindfolds. 26 percent reported being placed in solitary confinement as part of their interrogation process. At the conclusion of interrogations most children were shown, or made to sign, documentation in Hebrew. 
   
• Due process - The State Department notes that: although there is provision for issuing written summonses in lieu of arresting children at night, these summonses were almost never used; contrary to Israeli military regulations, parents of children arrested from home were not always provided with written notification concerning the arrests; unlike Israeli parents, Palestinian parents were excluded from attending their child's interrogation; many children did not always have access to a lawyer prior to interrogation, and often did not see a lawyer until they appeared in a military court. In most cases children were denied bail.
   
• Administrative detention - The State Department notes that: Israeli military law allows for indefinite administrative detention without charge or trial for Palestinians accused of "security-related offenses". While these orders are reviewed by a military court judge, the evidence is generally classified preventing any meaningful challenge by detainees. In December 2023, the IPS reported that it was holding 3,291 Palestinians in administrative detention including 49 children. These figures do not include the hundreds or perhaps thousands of Palestinians from Gaza.
   
• Prison conditions - A "state of emergency" in prisons was imposed after 7 October which imposed harsh conditions on Palestinian detainees. Reports from inside the prisons include: severe beatings, deliberate humiliation and verbal abuse; violent searches; medical neglect; reduced food; cutting off water and electricity for long hours; no family visits; and the use of solitary confinement. Six deaths in custody were reported. The Report also notes that Israeli authorities placed restrictions on the independent monitoring of prisons including by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
   
• Accountability - The State Department notes that: 79 percent of complaints against Israeli soldiers for alleged harm to Palestinians went uninvestigated. Complaints filed to the Department of Internal Police Investigations resulted almost exclusively in dismissal. Only 0.87 percent of investigations led to indictments with convictions resulting in light sentences. This lack of effective domestic remedies is reflected internationally where the US actively opposes legal accountability resulting in a well-placed sense of impunity.