RAMALLAH November 21. 2023 (Saba) - Palestinian Commission of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club has revealed that the enemy forces have arrested more than 880 children since the beginning of 2023, noting that 145 cases of arrest were recorded last October among children.
The two Palestinian institutions said in a statement on the occasion of International Children’s Day, which falls on November 20 of each year, that the enemy, in addition to the ongoing genocide against the people in Gaza, including thousands of children, continues its systematic arrest operations against Palestinian children in the West Bank, which has constituted and continues to be one of the most prominent constant and systematic policies, to target Palestinian children and generations, according to the Palestine Today Agency.
The number of child detainees in enemy prisons until the end of last October reached more than 200 children in the prisons of Ofer, Megiddo, and Damoun, and among the detained children 26 were in administrative detention, noting that the number is permanently variable in the continuous and high frequency of arrest campaigns, the statement read.
It added that the rate of arrests of children does not only reflect the occupation's continued implementation of this policy and its escalation, but also reflects the level of crimes and serious violations to which they have been exposed, since the beginning of this year, even though the rate of arrests is not considered the highest compared to a few years ago. In the past, the level of harassment and crimes in 2023 was among the highest and most intense of years.
The highest rate of arrests was in al-Quds, noting that the majority of children are released with conditions, such as house arrest, which constitutes the most dangerous policy practiced by the occupation against children.
Among the children’s cases were females, including the case of the wounded child Aseel Shehadeh, 17, from Qalandia camp, who She was shot by occupation soldiers in front of Qalandiya military checkpoint on the 7th of November, and now she is languishing in “Ramla” prison in harsh and difficult conditions.
Arrest operations against children are also concentrated in towns and camps, some areas located on contact points with occupation soldiers, and colonies established on the lands of their towns.
Institutions documented cases of children who were used as hostages after October 7 to pressure family members to surrender themselves.
The most prominent of these cases was the detention of a three-year-old child from the town of Beit Laqya in Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate, for an hour and a half. He was released and his father later surrendered himself to the occupation forces.
During the testimonies documented by the institutions, many families pointed out the serious psychological effects that appeared on children, not only those who were subjected to arrest, but also children who witnessed the raids at night, as a result of the intimidation operations practiced by the occupation army, including blowing up the doors during houses' raids, using police dogs, and beating members of their families in front of them.
Regarding the reality of children detainees in prisons, children are exposed to all the abusive and retaliatory measures imposed by the occupation on detainees in prisons after October 7, including brutal raids.
The measures imposed by the occupation prison administration have affected the basic components of detention life ( Food, treatment, water, and electricity.
According to one of the testimonies that was reported from one of the detainees recently released from Megiddo prison, the adult detainees were forced to fast for several days in order to provide food for the child detainees.
The statement said the Commission and the Prisoner's Club affirmed that in light of the continued aggression and genocide against our people in Gaza, including thousands of children, and the continued killing and arrest operations against children in the West Bank, they once again called on all free people to raise the voice of our children, to stop this aggression, until freedom and Palestinian self-determination.
H.H
resource : Saba
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