Palestinian Children’s Day puts spotlight on Israel’s war on kids

In Gaza, Israel has killed thousands of children in a blatant disregard of international norms and laws. But there’s another tragedy that is unfolding in the occupied Palestinian territory of West Bank where the Israeli military detains and tortures minors on a daily basis.

Palestinians and their supporters around the world mark April 5 as the Palestinian Children’s Day to highlight the plight of young people living under the occupation.

Every year, the Israeli military detains around 500 to 700 Palestinian children, aged 18 or below. Around 200 of them are still languishing in Israeli prisons, according to Addameer, a Palestinian NGO.

Since October 7, when Israel launched its deadly war on Gaza, there’s been a marked increase in number of detentions - more than 450 children were taken into custody at one point or another, says Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs

Roughly 13,000 children have been arbitrarily detained, interrogated, tried in military courts, and imprisoned since 2000.

Israel is the only country in the world to systematically prosecute children in military courts, with the most common charge that the children throw stones at its soldiers.

The Israeli military is infamous for targeting Palestinian kids even when they haven't done anything as in the 2020 incident when nine-year-old Malek Issa was shot in the face and lost an eye. His crime? He had gotten off his school bus and was heading to a nearby kiosk when Israeli soldiers were around.

Based on testimonies, charity group Save the Children in February revealed that the numbers of children detained without charge is rising and they face violence in prison.

The conditions for Palestinian children in prisons have significantly deteriorated, as many of them share a single room often with adults.

Other organisations such as Defense for Children International (DCI) and YMCA have recorded accounts of starvation, abuse and inhumane treatment, like making a child believe they were going to be executed when they were called from their cell to be released.

Rights groups have recorded instances where children have suffered broken bones and beatings in detentions.

“There’s no justification for beating and stripping children, dehumanising and terrorising them. The abuse of Palestinian children in military detention was a child protection crisis before 7 October, and it has only become worse,” Save the Children country director in the occupied Palestinian territories Jason Lee said in a report.

“With the world’s focus understandably on the unparalleled horrors children are facing in Gaza, we must not let abuse of children in the West Bank go unnoticed. There must be an end to this abusive military detention system and a definitive ceasefire now.”

Lee said the Israeli government's widespread secrecy means hundreds of families in Gaza and the West Bank are completely unaware of the whereabouts and well-being of their children.

They also have no information about the conditions and treatment their children are facing. “What we know about how these children are being treated is unacceptable, but what we don’t know could be even worse.”

Dehumanising behaviour

According to UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, “Israel’s framing of Palestinian children as ‘human shields’ or ‘terrorists’ to justify the violence against them and their parents is profoundly dehumanising.”

“We must understand the devastating impact of Israel’s occupation and ever-expanding colonial presence on generations of Palestinian children,” the expert said.

According to the UN, 1,434 Palestinian children were killed, with an additional 32,175 sustaining injuries, primarily at the hands of Israeli forces, from 2008 until 6 October 2023. Out of that figure, 1,025 children were killed in Gaza alone, since the unlawful blockade of Gaza began in 2007.

Human rights groups have long called out the Israeli military for using unnecessary force against Palestinian children, even arresting or detaining those as young as seven.

Palestinian children have been shot at, hit with stun grenades, and threatened and interrogated without the presence of parents or lawyers. Israeli forces often decide not to disclose the whereabouts of the detained children.

“Generations of Palestinian children, whether in besieged Gaza, the West Bank enclaves or annexed east Jerusalem, have seen their lives reduced to the bare minimum and, far too often, cut short as expendable,” UN’s Albanese said. “This is profoundly ‘unchilding’: it takes away the lightness of childhood and robs children of their future.”