Israeli forces have detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since October 2023, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society. In a report released on Wednesday, the rights group said Israeli authorities are stepping up their targeting of Palestinian children. It said at least 350 children are currently held in Israeli prisons under what it described as “harsh conditions.”
According to the report, Israeli forces arrested at least six children from Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday. The organisation said it could not determine how many children had been arrested in Gaza, because thousands of people, including children, are missing in the besieged territory amid an ongoing policy of enforced disappearance.
Detention without charge and alleged abuse in custody
The society argued that holding children without charges or a set release date is a further violation and crime. It said this leaves young detainees uncertain about their future and cut off from family and education. The report describes a pattern that begins with “intimidation and arrest” and extends to “torture, starvation and denial of healthcare.”
Cases of Mohammed Hamid and Walid Ahmed
The group highlighted the case of 15-year-old Mohammed Hamid, who contracted scabies, a contagious skin infestation, while held in Ofer Prison. The society noted that rights groups have long documented abuses at the facility. Hamid reportedly suffered severe infections, underwent heart surgery and was admitted to intensive care in critical condition. He later had one of his legs amputated.
The organisation also cited 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. The judge stated that, although there was evidence of starvation, no definitive cause of death had been established.
American teenagers held in Israeli custody
Ahmed was held in Megiddo alongside his friend Mohammed Ibrahim, a teenager from Florida. Ibrahim was freed after months of campaigning by US-based organisations and appeals from high-ranking lawmakers. The report also referred to other young Americans held 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, after which authorities moved him from a youth holding area into an adult section of Ofer Prison. In July, Israeli forces arrested 16-year-old Adam Wajeh Abdelfattah Karakrah, also an American. His family secured bail and he was due for release in August, but authorities abruptly reversed that decision.
Rights group calls for international action
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society called for “real international action” to secure the release of arbitrarily detained children. It also urged investigations to be enforced and an end to torture, starvation and the denial of treatment in Israeli prisons. The report notes that more than 25,000 Palestinians have been detained in the West Bank, and thousands more in Gaza, since October 2023.
