At least 23 Palestinian children were released by Israel as part of the cease-fire agreement, emphasizing the systematic prosecution of Israel of Palestinian children before the military courts.
At least 290 Palestinian prisoners have been released into two lots since the ceasefire in Hamas-Israel entered into force on January 19, finishing 15 months of Israeli Bombardment constantly from Gaza.
According to Adameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, a group of rights based in occupied West Bank, 320 children were detained in Israeli prisons before the last exchanges of prisoners.
So what do we know about children in Palestinian prisoners and why are they judged before the military courts?
What do we know about children in Palestinian prisoners in Israel?
In 2016, Israel introduced a new law allowing children aged 12 to 14 to be carefully responsible, which means that they could be tried in court in adulthood and have prison terms. Previously, only the 14 years or over could be sentenced to prison. Prison terms cannot start as long as the child reaches the age of 14, however [PDF].
This new law, which was adopted on August 2, 2016 by the Israeli Knesset, allows the Israeli authorities “to imprison a minor found guilty of serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder or manslaughter even if it is Lower in the age of 14, “according to a declaration from Knesset at the time, the law was introduced.
This change was made after the arrest of Ahmed Manasra in 2015 in East Jerusalem-East at the age of 13. He was accused of attempted murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison after the new law entered into force and, above all, after his 14th anniversary. Later, his sentence was commissioned at nine years on appeal.
It is estimated that 10,000 Palestinian children have been detained in Israeli military detention in the past 20 years, according to the NGO Save the Children.
The reasons for the arrest of children range from the launch of Pierre to the participation in a gathering of only 10 people without a license, on a question “which could be interpreted as political”.
Under what law are children held by Israel?
Controversially, Palestinian prisoners are tried and sentenced by military courts rather than civil courts.
International law allows Israel to use military courts in the territory it occupies.
A double legal system exists in Palestine, under which Israeli settlers living in occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem are subject to Israeli civil law while Palestinians are subject to Israeli military law in the courts led by soldiers and officers Israelis.
This means that a large number of Palestinians are imprisoned without a regular basic procedure.
“The Israeli authorities, however, regularly stop the Palestinian children during the night raids, question them without a present guard, maintain them for longer periods before bringing them before a judge and hold them as young as 12 in long pre -trial detention” , Omar Shakir, Israel and the director of Palestine at Human Rights Watch, wrote in November 2023.
Almost three -quarters of the Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank were kept in detention until the end of the procedure, against less than 20% for Israeli children, according to the Civil Rights association in the report of Israel from from 2017.
Hamoked, a human rights NGO helping Palestinians subject to human rights violations under Israeli occupation, said minors in prisons have been authorized to a 10 -minute phone call to their families once every two weeks in 2020.
How many Palestinian prisoners released within the framework of the Israel-Hamas Agreement?
Israel released 200 Palestinian prisoners, 120 of whom would have perpetuity sentences, from its prisons on Saturday as part of the ceasefire agreement.
Two of them were children, both 15 years old. The oldest prisoner, Muhammad Al-Tous, was 69 years old. He had spent 39 years in prison, after being arrested in 1985 during the fight against Israeli forces.
The exchange on Saturday was the second exchange since a cease-fire entered into force on January 19. Three Israeli captives and 90 Palestinian prisoners (69 women and 21 children) were released during the first exchange.
Only eight of the 90 prisoners were arrested before October 7, 2023, when Palestinian groups led by Hamas carried out attacks in southern Israel. The attacks killed more than 1,100 people, given about 250 captive and launched the devastating war of Israel against Gaza.
Some Palestinian prisoners have been detained in Israeli prisons for more than three decades.
The eminent Palestinian chief Marwan Barghouti – who was the co -founder of the National Palestinian Liberation Movement, also known as Fatah, the party that governs the West Bank – has been in prison for 22 years.
Tamer Qarmout, an associate professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that the release of Palestinian prisoners is a “huge relief” for families, although this happens under the “horrible realities of [the Israeli] occupation”.
“These prisoners should have been released thanks to a greater agreement which puts an end to the conflict, which leads to peace by negotiations, by ending the occupation, but the harsh reality in Palestine is that while we are talking, the Occupation continues, “Qarmout told Al Jazeera.
How many Palestinians are in Israeli prisons? Have they faced abuses in detention?
On Sunday, around 10,400 Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank were in Israeli captivity, according to Addameer estimates.
In the occupied Palestinian territory, one in five Palestinians was arrested and charged at some point. This rate is twice as high for Palestinian men for women – two out of five men have been arrested and charged.
There are 19 prisons in Israel and one inside the occupied West Bank which holds Palestinian prisoners. Israel has ceased to authorize independent humanitarian organizations to visit Israeli prisons in October, it is therefore difficult to know the number and conditions of the people held there.
Palestinian prisoners who were released said that they had been beaten, tortured and humiliated before and after the war against Gaza on October 7.
How many Palestinian prisoners are detained without accusation?
According to Addameer, around 3,376 Palestinians are detained in Israel are in the process of administrative detention. An administrative detainee is a person detained in prison without accusation or trials.
Neither administrative detainees, including women and children nor their lawyers are allowed to see the “secret evidence” which, according to Israeli forces, constitute the basis of their arrests. This practice has been in place against Palestinian prisoners since the creation of Israel in 1948.
These people were arrested by the army for renewable periods, which means that the duration of arrest is indefinite and could last for many years.
Administrative prisoners include 41 children and 12 women, according to Addameer.
What is the next step?
Twenty-six other captives should be released in the first phase of the six-week ceasefire, as well as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The next exchange will take place next Saturday.
Many hope that the next phase will end the war which has moved the vast majority of the 2.3 million people in Gaza and left hundreds of thousands at risk of famine. Discussions start on February 3.
