Detention figures
End of December 2023:

Security Prisoners

Adults: 8,171
Children: 137
Total: 8,308

Percentage held in Israel:

Adults: 74%
Children: 49%

Administrative Detention

Adults: 3,239
Children: 49
Total: 3,288

 
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Newsletter - June 2019

Detention figures – According to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 31 May 2019 there were 5,106 Palestinians (West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza) held as “security prisoners” in detention facilities including 201 children (12-17 years). In the case of children there was a 2% decrease in the number compared with the previous month and an annual decrease of 24% compared with 2018. No children are currently held in administrative detention. According to the IPS, 47% of child detainees were forcibly transferred and/or unlawfully detained in Israel in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention in May. More statistics  

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MCW Annual Report (2019) - This report considers developments relating to the arrest and detention of children by the Israeli military in the West Bank in 2018 and 2019. In addition to reviewing relevant legal and procedural changes the report considers the findings from 101 testimonies obtained from children detained during 2018. As in previous years the evidence establishes a clear link between child detention and proximity a settlement or its associated infrastructure. The report also considers the forcible transfer and unlawful detention of children outside the West Bank in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Read more

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UK lawyers’ report: 7-years on – This month marks 7 years since a delegation of UK lawyers reviewed the treatment of Palestinian children under Israeli military law and published their findings and recommendations. The Foreign Office funded report – Children in Military Custody – found undisputed evidence that the military detention system violates at least 6 articles under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and 2 articles under the Fourth Geneva Convention. During the intervening period MCW estimates that 1 out of the report’s 40 recommendations has been substantially implemented – an implementation rate of 2.5%. Read more

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Floor transfer: update – In 2018, 60 percentof children reported being transported on the metal floor of military vehicles from the place of arrest to an interrogation centre. This compares with 45 percent at the time UNICEF issued its report in 2013. The evidence indicates that children are sometimes placed on the floor because there are no available seats, while on other occasions it appears that seats are available. Once on the floor children are sometimes pushedkickedbeatenverbally abused and/or humiliated. In some cases children report that the vehicle's air-conditioner is turned on high, even in winter, adding to their discomfort. Comparative Graph

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A child’s testimony - On 16 April 2019, a 15-year-old minor from Aida refugee camp was arrested by an Israeli soldier while playing soccer at 5:30 p.m. The minor was interrogated in the presence of his father but not informed of his right to silence or a lawyer. “I was playing soccer with my friends at the park when all of a sudden an Israeli soldier jumped out of a military jeep and arrested me and another boy. It was around 5:30 p.m. I was shocked as there were no clashes in the area at the time. The soldier swore at me and called me “a son of a whore”. Then he took me to the back of the jeep where I sat on a seat.” Read more

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A soldier’s testimony: “A barefoot 11-year-old” – In this testimony a former Israeli soldier provides a testimony to Breaking the Silence describing how they chased a group of stone throwing children into a refugee camp in Bethlehem. An 11-year-old boy is detained, tied and blindfolded and taken to an armoured vehicle where a group of soldiers make fun of him as he is lying on the vehicle’s floor. One soldier who objects then becomes the unit’s focus of attention. The child is held for a few hours and at the end of the soldiers’ shift he is dropped off at a checkpoint on the other side of the city and told to find his own way home during a curfew. Video

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686 Testimonies                                          Annual Report (2019)                                         Videos