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 - July 2020

Detention figures – According to the Israeli Prison Service (IPS), as of 30 June 2020 there were 4,279 Palestinians (West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza) held as “security prisoners” in detention facilities including 151 children (12-17 years). In the case of children there was a 6% increase in the number compared with the previous month and an annual decrease of 13% compared with 2019. Two children are currently held in administrative detention. According to the IPS, 81% of child detainees were forcibly transferred and/or unlawfully detained in Israel in June in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. More statistics 

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Record proportion of children forcibly transferred to prisons in Israel - According to the IPS, 81% of Palestinian child detainees were forcibly transferred and/or unlawfully detained in Israel in June. This practice violates Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and, subject to jurisdiction, Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Russia has been criticized and sanctioned for similarly transferring detainees from Crimea to prisons in Russia. In 2013, UNICEF recommended that: “[I]n accordance with international law, all Palestinian children detained in in the Israeli military detention system shall be held in facilities located in the occupied Palestinian territory.” 

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Israel drafts secret list of hundreds of officials who may stand trial at international court - Israel is drawing up a secret list of military and intelligence officials who might be subject to arrest abroad if the International Criminal Court in the Hague opens an investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories. Haaretz has learned that this list now includes between 200 and 300 officials, some of whom have not been informed. The great secrecy surrounding the issue stems from a fear that the mere disclosure of the list’s existence could endanger the people on it. The assessment is that the court is likely to view a list as an official Israeli admission. Haaretz

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Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 (July 2020) – This report includes sections on: settlements; human rights defenders; arbitrary detention; the annexation plan; the International Criminal Court; violations by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority; the impact of Covid 19; collective punishment; and restrictions on freedom of movement. In regards to the detention, the Special Rapporteur, Michael Lynk, referred to “recurrent reports of practices that may amount to ill-treatment and torture, including with regards to children continued to be of serious concern.” Report

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A child’s testimony – On 19 January 2020, a 14-year-old minor from Beit Fajjar was arrested by Israeli soldiers at 7:00 p.m. He reports being interrogated on two occasions without first being informed of his right to silence or consulting a lawyer. “I was walking with two friends along the road at the entrance to our village. It was around 7:00 p.m. Suddenly an Israeli military jeep approached us. The jeep stopped and the soldiers stepped out, yelled at us and ordered us to sit on the ground. One of the soldiers aimed his gun at me and told me to raise my hands up. Two more military jeeps arrived at the scene and the commander took a video of me.” Read more

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A soldier’s video testimony: “Training on civilians” – In this video a former Israeli soldier provide a testimony to Breaking the Silence describing his final training mission, conducted on innocent Palestinian civilians. “And then you go to make the arrest. But the arrest actually takes place in an ordinary Palestinian’s house, who does not necessarily, in fact 99 percent, the IDF has no knowledge of his affiliation with any organization. Other units call it “mapping”. You come to a house and you’re supposed to find out about it and write it down. We surround the house. Call out for the guy to come out at 4 AM.” Video

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791 Testimonies                                       Annual Report (2020)                                                 Videos