Why are there so many Palestinian children in Israeli prisons? | News of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Israel released at least 23 Palestinian prisoners of Palestinian as part of the fire interruption agreement, placing the Israeli systematic criminal prosecution of Palestinian children in military courts in the focus of Israeli.

At least 290 Palestinian prisoners have been released in two groups since the truce between Hamas and Israel entered into force on January 19, ending 15 months of continuous Israeli gauze bombing.

According to Adameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, a human rights group based on the occupied west coast, 320 children were held in Israeli prisons before the latest exchanges of prisoners.

So, what do we know about Palestinian children prisoners and why are they being tried in military courts?

What do we know about Palestinian children prisoners in Israel?

In 2016, Israel introduced a new law that allows children between the ages of 12 and 14 to be criminally responsible, which means that they can be judged as adults in court and gain prison. Previously, only those who are 14 or more could be sentenced to prison. However, prison penalties cannot start until the child is 14 years old [PDF].

This new law, which brought Israeli princes on August 2, 2016, allows Israeli authorities to be “closed by minors convicted of serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder or negligence from negligence, even if he or she is under the age of 14” , according to a statement of Knesset at the time the law was presented.

This change was made after Ahmed Manasra was arrested in 2015 in occupied East Jerusalem at the age of 13. He was charged with attempted murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison after the new law entered into force and, which is crucial, after his 14th birthday. He was later sentenced to nine years in the appeal procedure.

It is estimated that 10,000 Palestinian children have been held in Israeli military detainees over the past 20 years, according to the non -governmental organization of Save the Children.

The reasons for the arrest of children move from throwing stones to participating in a set of only 10 people without permission, about any question “that could be interpreted as political.”

According to which law Israel closes children?

It is controversial that Palestinian prisoners are judged and condemned in front of military, not civil courts.

International law allows Israel to use military courts on the territory that occupies.

In Palestine, there is a double legal system, according to which Israeli immigrants living on the occupied west coast and eastern Jerusalem are subject to Israeli civil law, while the Palestinians are subject to Israeli military law on the courts of Israeli soldiers and officers.

This means that a large number of Palestinians are closed without a fundamental legal procedure.

“The Israeli authorities, however, regularly arrest Palestinian children during the night raids, examine them without the presence of guardians, holding them for a long time before taking them before the judge and holding those of 12 years in prolonged detention before trial,” Omar Shakir, Israel and Director Palestine in Human Rights Watch, wrote in November 2023.

Nearly three quarters of Palestinian children on the occupied west coast were retained in custody until the completion of the procedure, compared to less than 20 percent of Israeli children, according to a report of the 2017 Civic Rights Association.

Hamoked, a non-governmental human rights organization that helps Palestinians exposed to human rights violations under Israeli occupation, said that minors held in prisons were allowed 10-minute telephonation with their families once every two weeks during 2020.

How many Palestinian prisoners who have been liberated so far as part of Israel and Hamas children?

On Saturday, Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners, 120 of whom on life’s slave, from its prison as part of the fire interruption agreement.

Two of them were children, both 15 years old. The oldest prisoner, Muhammad al-Tous, was 69 years old. He spent 39 years in prison after being arrested for the first time in 1985 while fighting Israeli forces.

The exchange on Saturday has been the second exchange since the truce came into force on January 19th. Three Israeli prisoners and 90 Palestinian prisoners (69 women and 21 children) were released in the first exchange.

Only eight of the 90 prisoners were arrested before October 7, 2023, when Palestinian groups led by Hamas performed attacks in southern Israel. More than 1,100 people were killed in the attacks, about 250 were captured and they launched an devastating Israeli war against Gaza.

Some Palestinian prisoners have been held in Israeli prisons for more than three decades.

The prominent Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti – who was the co -founder of the Palestinian national liberation movement, also known as Fatah, a party ruled by the West Coast – has been in prison for 22 years.

Tamer Qarmout, Associate Professor at the Institute for Graduate Studies in Doha, told Al Jazeera that the liberation of Palestinian prisoners is a “great relief” for families, although this happens under “horrible reality [the Israeli] occupation”.

“These prisoners were supposed to be released through a larger agreement ending the conflict, which brings peace through negotiations, through the end of the occupation, but the harsh reality in Palestine is that while we talk, the occupation continues,” Qarmout told Al Jazeera.

How many Palestinians are in Israeli prisons? Were they exposed to abuse while in custody?

On Sunday, about 10,400 Palestinians from Gaza and the West Coast were in Israeli captivity, according to estimates of Addameeer.

In the occupied Palestinian territory, every fifth Palestinian was arrested and charged at some point. This rate is twice the larger for Palestinian men than for women – two out of five men have been arrested and accused.

There are 19 prison in Israel and one on the occupied west coast in which Palestinian prisoners are held. In October, Israel stopped allowing independent humanitarian organizations to visit the Israeli prisons, so it is difficult to know the number and conditions of the people who hold there.

Palestinian prisoners who were released reported that they were beaten, tortured and humiliated before and after the start of the war in Gaza on October 7th.

How many Palestinian prisoners are kept without indictment?

About 3,376 Palestinians held in Israel is in administrative custody, according to Addameer. Administrative custody is a person who is held in prison without accusation or trial.

Neither administrative detainees, including women and children, nor their lawyers should see “secret evidence” for which Israeli forces say they make the basis for their arrests. This practice has been in force against Palestinian prisoners since the establishment of Israel in 1948.

These people have arrested the army in renewable periods, which means that the duration of the arrest is unlimited and can last for many years.

Administratively detained include 41 children and 12 women, according to Addameer.

What is next?

Twenty -six other prisoners should be released in the six -week first phase of the fire interruption, along with hundreds of other Palestinian prisoners. The next exchange is next Saturday.

Many hope that the next phase will end the war that displaced the vast majority of 2.3 million Gaza inhabitants and left hundreds of thousands in danger of starvation. Negotiations begin on February 3.