Israel has detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since 2023: report

At least 350 Palestinian children currently face “harsh conditions” in Israeli prisons.

Palestinian children walk amid the rubble of buildings destroyed during the war, in Gaza City, on October 7, 2026 [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]

Israeli forces have detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since October 2023, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said.

In a report released on Wednesday, the Palestinian rights group said Israeli authorities continue to escalate their targeting of Palestinian children. At least 350 Palestinian children are currently facing “harsh conditions” in Israeli prisons.

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On Tuesday, Israeli forces arrested at least six children from Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the report said.

The organisation said information regarding the number of children arrested in Gaza is unclear, given the thousands of missing persons in the besieged Gaza Strip, including children, and the ongoing policy of enforced disappearance.

The group said Israel’s policy of detention without charges or a release date constitutes “an additional violation and crime that leaves children facing the unknown and deprives them of family and educational stability”.

Cases of Palestinian children in prison

The report described Israeli practices that begin with “intimidation and arrest” and extend to “torture, starvation and denial of healthcare”.

The group highlighted the case of 15-year-old Mohammed Hamid, who contracted scabies, a contagious skin infestation, while he was detained in Ofer Prison, where rights groups have long documented abuses. He suffered severe infections, underwent heart surgery and was admitted to intensive care in critical condition. He subsequently had one of his legs amputated.

The organisation also highlighted the case of 17-year-old Walid Ahmed, who died in March 2025 after six months in Megiddo Prison. In December, an Israeli judge halted the investigation into his death, stating that although there was evidence of starvation, no definitive cause of death had been established.

American children in Israeli prisons

Ahmed was imprisoned in Megiddo with his friend Mohammed Ibrahim , a teenager from Florida. Ibrahim was released after months of advocacy from US-based organisations and appeals from high-ranking lawmakers.

Mohammed Ibrahim was not the only young American held in Israeli prison without charge – Israeli forces reportedly took Abdalkareem Issa Ahmed Safi from his West Bank home in a late-night raid in June. He turned 18 in detention, and authorities subsequently moved him from a youth holding area into an adult section at Ofer Prison.

Similarly, Israeli forces arrested 16-year-old Adam Wajeh Abdelfattah Karakrah, also an American, in July. Although he was set for release in August after his family secured bail, Israeli authorities abruptly reversed the decision to free him.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society called for “real international action” to ensure the release of arbitrarily detained children, enforce investigations and end torture, starvation and the denial of treatment in Israeli prisons.

Israeli forces have detained more than 25,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, and thousands more in Gaza, since Israel’s genocidal war began in October 2023.

目前至少有 350 名巴勒斯坦儿童在以色列监狱中面临“恶劣条件”。

2026年10月7日，巴勒斯坦儿童走在加沙城战争中被摧毁的建筑物废墟中。[马哈茂德·伊萨/路透社]

巴勒斯坦囚犯协会表示，自2023年10月以来，以色列军队已拘留了2000多名巴勒斯坦儿童。

巴勒斯坦人权组织周三发布的一份报告称，以色列当局持续升级针对巴勒斯坦儿童的迫害行动。目前至少有350名巴勒斯坦儿童在以色列监狱中面临“恶劣的待遇”。

巴勒斯坦周刊（共3篇，第1篇）：加沙庆祝“停火”一周年，以色列方面造成更多人员伤亡

（共 3 项，第 2 项）如果内塔尼亚胡下台，巴勒斯坦人的处境真的会有所改变吗？

以色列计划重开定居者“463号公路”，此举或将孤立拉马拉（共3项，此为第3项）。

报道称，周二，以色列军队在被占领的约旦河西岸希伯伦逮捕了至少六名儿童。

该组织表示，鉴于被围困的加沙地带有数千人失踪，其中包括儿童，以及持续存在的强迫失踪政策，有关在加沙被捕儿童人数的信息尚不清楚。

该组织表示，以色列不经指控或不定释放日期就拘留儿童的政策构成“额外的侵犯人权和犯罪行为，使儿童面临未知的未来，并剥夺了他们的家庭和教育稳定性”。

巴勒斯坦儿童被监禁的案例

该报告描述了以色列的做法，从“恐吓和逮捕”开始，一直到“酷刑、饥饿和拒绝提供医疗保健”。

该组织重点关注了15岁的穆罕默德·哈米德的案例。他在奥弗监狱被拘留期间感染了疥疮，这是一种传染性皮肤病。人权组织长期以来一直记录着该监狱的虐待行为。他遭受了严重的感染，接受了心脏手术，并因病情危重被送入重症监护室。随后，他的一条腿被截肢。

该组织还重点提及了17岁的瓦利德·艾哈迈德的案例。他于2025年3月在梅吉多监狱被关押六个月后去世。同年12月，一名以色列法官叫停了对他的死因调查，称虽然有证据表明他死于饥饿，但尚未确定确切的死因。

在以色列监狱里的美国儿童

艾哈迈德和他的朋友穆罕默德·易卜拉欣（一名来自佛罗里达州的青少年）一起被关押在米吉多监狱。经过美国各组织数月的奔走呼吁和高级议员的呼吁，易卜拉欣最终获释。

穆罕默德·易卜拉欣并非唯一一位未经指控就被关押在以色列监狱的年轻美国人——据报道，以色列军队于6月的一次深夜突袭中，从阿卜杜勒卡里姆·伊萨·艾哈迈德·萨菲位于西岸的家中将其带走。他在拘留期间年满18岁，随后当局将他从青少年拘留区转移到奥弗监狱的成人监区。

同样，以色列军队在7月份逮捕了16岁的美国公民亚当·瓦杰·阿卜杜勒法塔赫·卡拉克拉。尽管他的家人为他申请了保释，他原定于8月份获释，但以色列当局突然推翻了释放他的决定。

巴勒斯坦囚犯协会呼吁采取“真正的国际行动”，以确保释放被任意拘留的儿童，强制进行调查，并结束以色列监狱中的酷刑、饥饿和拒绝治疗。

自以色列于 2023 年 10 月发动种族灭绝战争以来，以色列军队已在西岸拘留了超过 25,000 名巴勒斯坦人，并在加沙拘留了数千名巴勒斯坦人。