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 - September 2021

Detention figures – According to data issued quarterly by the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 30 September 2021, there were 4,467 Palestinians (West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza) held as “security prisoners” in detention facilities including 159 children (12-17 years). In the case of children there was a 1% increase in the number compared with the previous month and an annual decrease of 8% compared with 2020. Six children were held in administrative detention. According to the IPS, 65% of child detainees were forcibly transferred and/or unlawfully detained in Israel in 2021 in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.[1] More statistics 

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UK government rejects ICC jurisdiction - In February 2021, the International Criminal Court (ICC) determined that it possessed territorial jurisdiction in relation to the situation in Palestine, paving the way for a formal investigation into alleged war crimes committed by all parties to the conflict since 2014. Immediately following this decision, Israeli media outlets reported that: "Senior [Israeli] security officials said a number of ICC member states have agreed to give advance warning to Israel of any intent to arrest Israelis on their arrival in those countries or if a request for an arrest warrant is issued against them. At the same time, Israel might ask those on the list to refrain entirely from travelling abroad, to avoid arrest or trial." Read more

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Israeli High Court confirms only Palestinian homes can be entered without a warrant in the West Bank - On 1 September 2021, Israel's High Court handed down a decision in a petition seeking to limit the military's power to enter and search Palestinian homes in the West Bank. Since June 1967, Israeli military law has permitted Israeli soldiers to enter any Palestinian home during the day or night "if there may be reason to suspect", inter alia, that "public order may be harmed". The petition sought to impose a limitation on this power by requiring that the military first obtain a warrant from a judge before conducting a search, unless the urgency of the situation made this impracticable.  A number of arguments were made in support of the petition. Read more

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British Medical Journal: Mental health impact on children of forcible home invasions in the occupied Palestinian territory - A new report by three leading Israeli human rights organisations—Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Yesh Din and Breaking the Silence—documents the grievous mental health repercussions, including on children, of the Israeli policy of forcible invasions by the military into the homes of West Bank Palestinian families. The report, titled 'Life Exposed1’ is based on 158 interviews of Palestinians who experienced home invasions, as well as over 40 soldiers who carried them out. Following 3 years of joint work, the report documents how these invasions, which number more than 250 a month. Read more

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A child's testimony - On 29 January 2021, a 17-year-old minor from Balata refugee camp was arrested by Israeli soldiers on a nearby checkpoint at 7:00 p.m. He reports being interrogated multiple times without being informed of his rights and being held in solitary confinement for 11 days. "I was arrested at a nearby Israeli military checkpoint at around 7:00 p.m. I was walking with my friends when all of a sudden we were ambushed by a group of about 20 soldiers. One of the soldiers aimed his weapon at me and told me to stop. Then he grabbed me and pushed me to the ground. Then he tied my hands to the front with two plastic ties on top of each other. The ties were so tight that they cut into my wrists and I bled." Read more

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901 Testimonies                                       MCW Annual Report (2021)                                     Videos
 

 


[1] The IPS did not provide comprehensive data on the location of child detainees in the third quarter - 65% represents the average number of child detainees transferred out of the West Bank during the first two quarters, as provided by the IPS.