Hundreds of Palestinian minors incarcerated in Israeli jails

Hundreds of Palestinian minors incarcerated in Israeli jails

A Palestinian non-governmental and civil organization said earlier this year the Tel Aviv regime is keeping 350 Palestinian minors behind bars in prisons and detention facilities across the occupied territories.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS), in a statement released earlier this year, announced that it has recorded 67 cases of child arrests during February.

It further noted that 182 minors are currently being held in Ofer Prison near the central West Bank city of Ramallah. Three of the inmates are serving administrative detention, which involves imprisonment without trial or charge.

Loai Mansi, the representative of minor detainees at Ofer Prison, said Israeli soldiers have assaulted and beaten Palestinian minors during detention.

He added that the story of a 13-year-old boy, whom prison guards could not handcuff because of his small hands, is a clear proof that he is too young to be arrested.

Mansi said a total of 117 minors have been transferred to Ofer Prison since the beginning of the current year.

He went on to say that an estimated 168 other minors are currently in Megiddo and Hasharon prisons.

Also, the Israeli military earlier this year began  the closed-door trial of Ahed Tamimi, a Palestinian girl who rose to fame after slapping an Israeli soldier in the face.

More than 7,000 Palestinians are reportedly held at Israeli jails. Hundreds of the inmates have apparently been incarcerated under the practice of administrative detention.

Some Palestinian prisoners have been held in administrative detention for up to 11 years.

Palestinian inmates regularly stage hunger strikes in protest at the administrative detention policy and their harsh prison conditions in Israeli jails.

According to reports, at least 13 Palestinian lawmakers are currently imprisoned in Israeli detention facilities. Nine of them are being held without trial under administrative detention.

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