Hundreds of Palestinian children sit in Israeli jails, many without ever being charged
By isabelle // 2026-08-13
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  • Nearly 370 Palestinian children are being held in Israeli prisons, and many of them have never been charged with a crime.
  • The number of minors in administrative detention has nearly doubled in just over a year.
  • Allegations of abuse include beatings, medical denial, solitary confinement, and systemic torture.
  • Human rights groups report over 9,500 Palestinians detained, with a third held indefinitely without charges.
  • The key watchdog group Defense for Children International-Palestine has been forced to shut down by Israeli legislation.
Nearly 370 Palestinian children are currently held in Israeli prisons, according to the latest figures from Israel's prison service. That figure is especially concerning given that Palestinian rights group Defense for Children International-Palestine found that more than half of the 351 Palestinian children who were in Israeli custody as of December 31 were being held without ever facing charge or trial. The numbers have surged since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack triggered Israel's military campaign in Gaza, with arrests and raids continuing across the West Bank even as the war there has drawn comparatively less international attention.

Record numbers held without charges

Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) reported that 51 percent of those 351 detained children were being held under administrative detention — a policy that allows Israel to imprison individuals without charge or trial for renewable six-month periods. The group said this figure marks the highest number and proportion on record since it began monitoring in 2008. According to Israel's prison service, the number of minors held in administrative detention has nearly doubled in just over a year. These figures do not include children held in Israeli military detention and interrogation centers, for which no official data is publicly available. Israel says approximately 90 percent of detained minors are held for security-related reasons, though they have not been convicted. Prison terms for those convicted typically range from two to three years, but some minors have received sentences of between 10 and 20 years. Israeli police report roughly 100 minors are detained each month for entering Israel without a permit.

Abuse allegations mount inside Israeli prisons

Former detainees and rights organizations have reported mistreatment inside Israeli prisons, including beatings, denial of medical care, and solitary confinement. Palestinian children have consistently described what DCIP called "appalling and debilitating conditions" in detention facilities. Israeli rights group B'Tselem went further in an August 2024 report, calling the prison system a "network of torture camps" and accusing authorities of a systemic policy of abuse against Palestinian prisoners. Israel has denied the allegations. The advocacy group Addameer found that Israel was holding roughly 9,500 Palestinians as of March 11, with more than a third under administrative detention. Israel is also holding more than 100 bodies of Palestinians who died in its custody, a recent report found.

Watchdog group forced to shut down

Arrests and raids have continued across the West Bank throughout Israel's military campaign in Gaza, which followed the Oct. 7 attack that killed approximately 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages. Gaza's Health Ministry reports the Palestinian death toll since October 2023 at 73,386, with 174,250 wounded. DCIP, which had been critical in documenting Israel's detention of children, announced in recent days that it was forced to cease operations. The group cited Israeli legislation requiring humanitarian organizations to register with the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism or face a ban; Israel has designated DCIP a "terrorist" group. With DCIP gone, there is no independent group left tracking exactly who is detained, for how long, or under what conditions — leaving these numbers to come almost entirely from the Israeli government itself. For a system already facing allegations of torture and abuse from multiple human rights organizations, that lack of independent oversight is arguably the most troubling development of all. Sources for this article include: RT.com AlJazeera.com Truthout.org
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