Palestinian Prisoners Club: Israel Detains 350 Palestinian Children in Harsh Conditions

The Palestinian Prisoners Club stated that Israeli authorities are escalating their targeting of Palestinian children through practices including terrorization, arrest, torture, starvation, isolation, and denial of medical care. The organization reported that Israeli forces arrested at least six children from the West Bank town of Sa'ir and Shuyukh in Hebron during the past night. According to monitoring and documentation, over 2,000 children have been arrested since the start of what the club terms "genocide," with at least 350 still in detention under harsh conditions. Information regarding the number of children arrested from Gaza remains unclear, especially given the thousands of missing individuals, including children, and the ongoing policy of enforced disappearance.

The club also highlighted administrative detention, which involves holding individuals without formal charges or clear release dates, as an additional violation that leaves children facing an uncertain future and disrupts their family and educational stability. The organization emphasized that these practices are part of a detention system where field practices, legal procedures, and prison conditions intersect, allowing violations to continue without effective accountability, further entrenched by Israeli courts.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club cited the case of Walid Khaled Ahmed, a child prisoner who died in Megiddo prison in March 2025, with medical reports indicating severe emaciation, malnutrition, and dehydration. The club raised serious questions about accountability given the closure of the investigation into his death. Another case mentioned is that of 15-year-old Mohammed Hamid, who contracted scabies while detained in Ofer prison, leading to severe infections in vital organs, heart surgeries, and the eventual amputation of one leg. He has been receiving treatment for three months after prison authorities released him, avoiding responsibility for his condition.

These two cases, the club noted, are among hundreds of child detentions, each revealing the dire and tragic circumstances faced by child prisoners and the profound psychological and physical effects on them and their families. The organization called for effective international action to secure the release of arbitrarily detained children, end administrative detention and forced interrogations, and halt torture, starvation, and denial of medical care. They also urged guarantees for access to detainees by families, lawyers, and independent oversight bodies, and called for independent investigations into these alleged crimes.

The club stressed that protecting Palestinian children requires moving beyond documentation and condemnation to concrete actions that end violations, stop impunity, and ensure respect for children's rights, lives, and dignity. They asserted that this issue, along with others, necessitates decisive international intervention to overcome the current helplessness of the international human rights system and address complicity that has undermined its role.