RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israel detained 908 Palestinian children under 18 years of age since the beginning of 2018, according to Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).
PPS said in a statement, on Tuesday, marking Universal Children’s Day, that out of the 908 Palestinian children detained since January 2018 until the end of October, 270 are still held in detention in various Israeli prisons.
PPS emphasized that children are usually detained in the middle of the night from their family homes, often severely beaten, and threatened in order to get them to sign confession papers.
The children are also denied education, while some are denied family visits, and medical attention for those who need it while in detention.
PPS stressed Israel has enacted several laws since 2015 targeting Palestinian children in particular that would allow detention and trial of minors at age 14 years and stiff prison sentence for more than 10 years for throwing rocks and even life sentences.
According to prisoners rights group Addameer, there are 5,580 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli prisons, of whom 250 are child prisoners and 35 are under the age of 16 years.
Text and Photo via Ma’an News Agency
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