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 - January 2023

Detention figures – According to data issued quarterly by the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 31 December 2022, there were 4,604 Palestinians (West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza) held as “security prisoners” in detention facilities including 157 children (12-17 years). In the case of children there was a 5 percent increase in the number compared with the previous month and an annual decrease of 9 percent compared with 2021. Seven children were held in administrative detention. According to the IPS, 71 percent of child detainees were transferred to prisons inside Israel in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. More statistics             

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Evidence update: night arrests - Each year Israeli soldiers conduct between 3,500 - 4,500 search and arrest operations in Palestinian communities in the West Bank. This averages out at 10-12 operations each day. In over 80 percent of these cases the operations occur at night and involve the arrest of between 300-600 children annually. Israel justifies this practice on the basis that the territory is subject to a temporary military occupation since 7 June 1967. On 1 August 2021, the military authorities announced the introduction of new procedures for summonsing children. Since 1 August 2021, MCW has documented 38 cases involving the night arrest of children. In just one case was a written summons used - it was served at 3:15 a.m. Read more

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On Flimsy Grounds: A new report on the night arrest of children - In 2020, Hamoked petitioned Israel's High Court to compel Israel's military to cease the widespread practice of arresting Palestinian children at night in the West Bank - and instead rely on summonses. In July 2021, the military announced that it had introduced new limited procedures for the summonsing of children - excluding children wanted for interrogation by an agency other than the police and children wanted for "severe offences" (undefined). In 2022, data issued by the authorities following the introduction of the new procedures indicated no increase in the use of summonses, while data compiled by Hamoked suggests the use of summonses has fallen. The Report

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A child's testimony - On 12 October 2022, a 14-year-old minor from Beit Sira was arrested by Israeli soldiers from home at 3:30 a.m. "I was arrested from home at around 3:30 a.m. I was asleep when I heard loud banging at our front door. By the time I got out of bed many Israeli soldiers were already inside our home. I heard one of the soldiers call my name. He told my parents they wanted to arrest me and question me about stone throwing. The soldier gave my parents a document filled out in Hebrew and asked my father to sign it. They did not give us a copy of this document. The soldiers took away all our phones. Within about half-an-hour I was taken outside where my hands were tied. Read more

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