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

 
Bookmark and Share
  change font size تصغير الخط تكبير الخط print
Home » Newsletter »

Newsletter - November 2020

Detention figures – According to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 30 September 2020 there were 4,184 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 3% increase in the number compared with the previous month and an annual decrease of 16% compared with 2019. Two children are currently held in administrative detention. According to the IPS, 73% of child detainees were forcibly transferred and/or unlawfully detained in Israel in September in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. *Note: the IPS has not issued detailed statistics since September 2020.  More statistics 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Evidence update: forcible transfer of children –  According to the most recent data released by the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), an average of 75 percent of Palestinian children detained by Israeli military forces in the West Bank were transferred and detained inside Israel in 2020. The transfer and detention of these children outside the West Bank is classified as a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention – a treaty drafted in the aftermath of the Second World War and ratified by 196 States, including Israel in 1951. The practice is also prohibited under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Arguments suggesting that this law does not apply to Israel and Palestine are without merit. Read more

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 
A Life Exposed: Military invasions of Palestinian homes in the West Bank – A new report by Yesh Din, Breaking the Silence and Physicians for Human Rights considers the impact of Israeli military night raids on Palestinian homes in the West Bank. “Almost every night, armed Israeli soldiers raid homes, wake women, men and children, and carry out different actions inside the homes of Palestinian residents. According to UN figures, these invasions occur more than 200 times each month. Beyond the harm suffered by individuals and families as a result of the intrusion into their homes, this practice effectively serves as a means to intimidate the Palestinian population.” Read more

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 
Under Cover of Darkness: Night arrests of Palestinian Minors by Israeli Security Forces in the West Bank – A new report by Hamoked considers the practice of arresting Palestinian children at night. “Hundreds of times a year, Israeli troops invade Palestinian homes in the West Bank in the middle of the night, sow fear and panic among household members – children and adults alike – and take a teenager from the family into custody. The arrests are a violent affair: the soldiers often break down the front door and sometimes forcefully drag the teenagers out of bed. The teens are then led, blindfolded and handcuffed - usually with their hands painfully tied behind their backs – to a military vehicle.” Read more

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 
A child’s testimony –  On 14 November 2020, a 15-year-old minor from Beit Fajjar was arrested at an Israeli police station in the West Bank. He reports being interrogated several times without first consulting with a lawyer or being informed of his right to silence.   “About 10 military vehicles came to the bakery where I was working the night shift. It was around 2:30 a.m. The soldiers told the owner of the bakery they were looking for someone who had a similar name to me. The soldiers then asked me for my name and then left. I was terrified and so was the bakery owner and he drove me home. After the soldiers left the bakery they went to my house and searched it causing a lot of damage to the furniture.” Read more

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 
A soldier’s video testimony: “Over three years nothing happened there” – In this video a former soldier provides a video testimony to Breaking the Silence describing how the military occupied a quiet village for 48 hours for training purposes. “At times there’s a very fine line between when we go on an actual operational mission, and when we use it in a drill, just apply our training in a drill. I remember one time the company was met by a young squad. They’d just finished their training and had never gone on a mission, so they decided to go on one in a village which, according to intelligence, I remember this vividly, had been quiet for 3 years. No stones were thrown, no flags were put up, nothing.” Watch video

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 823 Testimonies                                       MCW Annual Report (2020)                                     Videos