Detention figures – The Israel Prison Service (IPS) has not released data on the number of Palestinian men, women and children held in its facilities since December 2023. Up until September 2020, the IPS released this data on a monthly basis in accordance with a Freedom of Information application. Since September 2020, the IPS has reduced its reporting to a quarterly basis but is yet to release data for Q1 of 2024. As of December 2023, the IPS reported that it was holding 8,308 Palestinians as “security prisoners” including 137 children (12-17 years). 3,288 of these detainees were being held without charge or trial in administrative detention including 49 children. According to the IPS, 49% of child detainees and 74% of adults were unlawfully transferred from the occupied West Bank to prisons in Israel in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. More statistics

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US State Department's annual report on human rights - For over 10 years the State Department has reported in detail on matters relating to Israel's military detention of Palestinian children. As in previous years, the report notes that:  Israel applies two legal systems in the West Bank based on race or national identity; the overwhelming majority of Palestinian child detainees are unlawfully transferred from the West Bank in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention; reports of torture and ill-treatment are prevalent including prolonged solitary confinement; due process rights are frequently ignored; and there is almost a total absence of domestic accountability. The report also confirms continued US recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights undermining international legal objections to Russia's annexation of Crimea. Read more

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US supports accountability for unlawful transfer of children - unless they're Palestinians - According to the IPS, up to 32,000 Palestinian children have been transferred from the West Bank and unlawfully detained in Israel in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Following the issuing of an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the unlawful transfer of "hundreds" of children from Ukraine, President Biden stated that: "the Russian President has clearly committed war crimes and the ICC's decision to issue an arrest warrant for him was justified." While the US State Department has reported on the unlawful transfer of Palestinian children for over a decade, the Biden Administration actively works to shield Israeli officials from legal accountability. This selective application of the law diminishes  US standing and undermines the viability of a credible rules based order.

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Record number of children held without charge or trial - The previous 12 months have seen a surge in the number of Palestinian children held without charge or trial in Israeli administrative detention. In the 8 years prior to 2023, the monthly average number of children held in administrative detention was 3.6. In the 4 years prior to 2015, no children were held in administrative detention, suggesting there are no compelling reasons why this procedure should be used on children. Based on data provided by the IPS, the monthly average number of children held in administrative detention in 2023 rose to 23.2 - an increase of 544 percent. According to data published by the IPS in December 2023, out of 8,308 Palestinians held in detention, 3,288 (40 percent) were being held without charge or trial in administrative detention, including 49 children. The IPS has not updated these figures as of 15 May 2024. Read more

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A child's testimony - A 17-year-old minor describes how 15 Israeli soldiers broke into the family home at 4:00 a.m. with a service dog and conducted a destructive search of his home. He reports being detained written notification contrary to Israeli military regulations. His hands were tied so tightly that they swelled and turned blue, contrary to Israeli military regulations. He reports then being dragged from his home barefoot and in his underwear. He was transferred on the metal floor of a military vehicle where he was physically and verbally abused, contrary to Israeli military regulations. One month after his arrest he received a 4-month administrative detention order. Ten days before the expiry of his administrative detention order he was released in a prisoner swap deal. He reports a significant deterioration in prison conditions at Ofer prison following 7 October 2023. Read more  

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