Background
Following six days of war in June 1967, military law was imposed by the Israeli authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A number of military courts were established in which Palestinians violating this law could be prosecuted. Although international law does permit the establishment of military courts to prosecute civilians in limited circumstances, the authority is subject to one overriding limitation – military occupations must be temporary and cannot be maintained indefinitely.
Since 1967, over 2,150 orders have been issued by the Israeli army affecting the daily lives of approximately 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank. The commanders who issue these orders have full legislative, executive and judicial authority over the Palestinian population. According to UN and Israeli sources over 800,000 Palestinian men, women and children have been detained, and in most cases, prosecuted in these courts. According to the Israeli military authorities between 700 and 1,000 Palestinian children from the West Bank are detained each year.
During the course of the last five decades, over 200 Israeli settlements have also been established in the West Bank, which are now home to over 500,000 Israeli citizens. A further 250,000 settlers live in East Jerusalem. The view of the international community is that these settlements are
illegal, a position confirmed by the
UN Security Council and the
International Court of Justice. Although technically the settlers living in the West Bank are subject to the same military law applied to Palestinians, in practice Israeli civilian law, with far greater rights and protections, is applied to this segment of the population based on race or national identity.
The presence of settlements in the West Bank is a constant source of friction.
Research indicates that approximately 98 percent of Palestinian children detained are arrested within several kilometres of an Israeli settlement or related infrastructure, constructed in close proximity existing Palestinian population centres. The Israeli army and military court system play a crucial role in maintaining control at these friction points.
The military courts have jurisdiction to prosecute children as young as 12 years old. The most common offence children are prosecuted for is for stone throwing. Although
children younger than 12 are sometimes detained, the army will generally release them within 12 hours. The child's journey through this military legal system is described in chronological order by following the links to the left.
On 19 July 2024, the International Court of Justice issued an
advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza) following referal of the question by the UN General Assembly in December 2022. The Court found,
inter alia, that after 57 years Israel's military occupation of this territory is now illegal.
Updated: 30 July 2024
