At least 540 Palestinian children in West Bank detained since start of Gaza war

Israeli forces have detained hundreds of Palestine children in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war on Gaza in October, human rights group Addameer reported.

At least 540 children have been held in difficult conditions, according to the prisoner support and rights organisation, in similar treatment to that of adult Palestinian prisoners, where repeated cases of torture and mistreatment have been reported.

Since Israel launched its devastating war on Gaza on 7 October, there has been a marked uptick in arrests of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank with Addameer recording at least 8,425 Palestinians detained in the occupied territory until now.

There has been a particularly high number of arrests of children in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron.

This week, four children aged between 13 and 15 were arrested, including a child who was shot by Israeli forces, The New Arab's Arabic language sister publication, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, reported on Friday.

Yousef Abu Maria, the coordinator of the popular committee in Beit Ummar, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that some of the children were arrested on fabricated charges.

"More than 250 arrests have targeted children in the town of Beit Ummar, including children as young as 10…some have been held under administrative detention. This instils a state of terror in children," he said.

Abu Maria added that his 17-year-old son has been twice arrested since the start of the ongoing war on Gaza, the second time when he was held under administrative detention.

He believes that the Israeli arrests  are intended to send a message to Palestinians that their children will be treated the same way as adults are.

"The abuse against children is no different to any others, as it involves severe beatings, humiliation, insults, deprivation of lawyers' visits and starvation as a weapon against them, as well as terrible conditions," Abu Maria continued.

Amer Al-Junaidi, the legal adviser for the Defence for Children International, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the conditions children are currently being kept in are "tragic" and far worse than those prior to the war.  

He called on Israel to commit to international humanitarian standards when dealing with children.

The reports come amidst Israel's ongoing war on Gaza, which has killed at least 37,765 Palestinians since October, and wounded 86,429 others in the same time frame.