De: Palestine Will Be Free <palestinewillbefree@substack.com>
Date: dom, 13 de sept de 2026, 4:41 p.m.
Subject: Israel has detained 2,000 Palestinian children since October 7 amid worsening abuse, torture and neglect
To: <madrescontralaguerra@gmail.com>
Israel has detained 2,000 Palestinian children since October 7 amid worsening abuse, torture and neglectChildren as young as 10 are among thousands detained by Israel, facing torture, abuse, starvation and medical neglect in its prisons and detention centres.
Not only have the Israelis slaughtered more than 21,000 Palestinian children and orphaned more than 58,000 others during their ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, but they have also filled their rape and torture dungeons with some 2,000 children, including some as young as 10, since October 7, 2023. The occupation forces have deliberately and systematically targeted Palestinian children, with the green light from the security and political leadership, the Palestine Centre for Prisoners’ Studies said on Saturday. It pointed out that the Israelis have abducted tens of thousands of children since the beginning of their occupation of the Palestinian territories, accelerating this policy since the start of the genocide in 2023, with an unprecedented escalation in crimes of mistreatment, torture, starvation, and medical neglect against them. Currently, there are 370 children in Israeli dungeons, enduring various forms of torture, mistreatment, and denial of the most basic fundamental rights. Among them are 185 children who have been sentenced to prison terms. Ninety are being held in administrative detention without charge, while 95 await trial. Most are held in Megiddo and Ofer prisons, along with numerous detention centres. The youngest detainee is an infant no more than one year old, born to his imprisoned mother, Tahani Samhan, inside the prison in September 2025. She was arrested while pregnant, and the occupation authorities refused to release her. She subsequently gave birth to her child alone, without any of her relatives being allowed to accompany her during the delivery. Currently, three pregnant women are held in Israeli dungeons, one of whom, Dana Fouda, is in her ninth month of pregnancy, while Manar Karaja is eight months pregnant. The Israelis have refused to release the three pregnant detainees despite repeated appeals.
Violent arrestsThe statement highlighted the barbaric methods used by the Israelis when detaining Palestinian children. They raid their families’ homes after midnight, terrorise family members, and ransack the premises before violently taking the children to military vehicles. The children are beaten and assaulted before being transferred to interrogation and detention centres, which lack even the most basic necessities of life and in which they are subjected to various forms of torture, mistreatment, and humiliation. It pointed out that the occupation also abducts children at military checkpoints spread throughout the occupied West Bank, while they are going to and returning from school, or while they are playing near their homes. In November last year, Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP) published harrowing testimonies from three children abducted by the Israelis from “aid” distribution sites in Gaza. Long after their release, the children said that they continued to suffer from nightmares and found it difficult to sleep. “The concept of deep sleep is foreign to me,” Mahmoud Majayda, one of the released children, told DCIP. “My mental state deteriorated to such an extent that I attempted suicide twice: once by hanging myself with my trousers’ tie and again by cutting my wrist. Unfortunately, both attempts were unsuccessful.” “I am jolted awake by his screams, and he cowers in fear of being struck, pleading, ‘No, no, please don’t hit me,’” the mother of another released child said. The Israelis have also abused and starved one child to death in their torture dungeons.
Worsening conditionsThe Centre pointed out that the Israelis have enacted numerous decisions and introduced amendments to existing ones, which, it said, ultimately aim to extend the detention of children, intensify the methods of torture used against them, facilitate their detention and punishment, and enable reprisals against them, in addition to imposing harsher sentences. Furthermore, the occupation has escalated its use of administrative detention orders against minors without charge, which the Centre views as part of a policy aimed at arresting the largest possible number of children without formal charges or evidence of guilt. To support my work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Abuse, deprivation and medical neglectAccording to the Centre, Palestinian children in the Israeli dungeons are subjected to a range of brutal retaliatory measures, most notably the denial of family visits and intensified raids and searches of their cells by special units. These units assault the children, spray them with chemicals, violently ransack their cells, and deliberately damage or destroy their personal belongings. The abject conditions of children’s cells mirror those of the adult detainees. The children are also held in conditions that are unfit for humans, denying them even the most basic necessities of life and minimum health standards. These inhumane conditions facilitate the spread of diseases and epidemics, particularly due to severe overcrowding. Dozens of children have contracted scabies as a result of the deprivation of basic hygiene supplies, restrictions on bathing, severe water shortages, and the failure to isolate those infected. The Centre described these conditions as part of the ongoing crime of medical neglect against Palestinian children, who are denied adequate medical care and protection from preventable illness. I’ve never put up a paywall, but this newsletter wouldn’t be possible without your support. If you are able, please consider supporting my work with a paid subscription here, on Ko-fi, or on Patreon. You can also buy me a coffee or two at the link below. Thank you!
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