Israel has detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since 2023

At least 350 Palestinian children are currently held in Israeli prisons, facing "harsh conditions."

The Association of Palestinian Prisoners announced that Israeli forces have detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since October 2023.

In a report released Wednesday, the Palestinian rights group said Israeli authorities are continuing to escalate their targeting of Palestinian children. At least 350 Palestinian children are currently facing "harsh conditions" in Israeli prisons.

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The report said that Israeli forces arrested at least six children from Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.

The agency said that given the thousands of missing people in the Gaza Strip, including children, and the ongoing policy of enforced disappearances, information on the number of children arrested in Gaza is unclear.

The group said Israel's policy of detaining without charge or release date "is an additional violation and crime that exposes children to the unknown and deprives them of family and educational stability."

The report describes Israeli practices starting with "intimidation and arrests" and extending to "torture, starvation and denial of health care."

The group highlighted the case of 15-year-old Mohammad Hamid, who contracted scabies, a contagious skin infection. He was detained in Ofer prison, where human rights groups have long documented abuses. He developed severe infections, underwent heart surgery and was admitted to intensive care in critical condition. He then had one of his legs amputated.

The organization also highlighted the case of 17-year-old Waleed Ahmed, who died in March 2025 after six months in Megiddo prison. In December, an Israeli judge halted the investigation into her death, stating that although there was evidence of starvation, no definitive cause of death had been established.

Ahmed was imprisoned in Megiddo along with his friend Muhammad Ibrahim, a teenager from Florida. Ibrahim was released after months of support from US-based organizations and pleas from high-ranking lawmakers.

Muhammad Ibrahim wasn't the only young American to be held without charge in an Israeli prison — Israeli forces reportedly took Abdul Karim Isa Ahmed Safi from his West Bank home in a late-night raid in June. He turned 18 in custody, and the authorities subsequently transferred him from the youth detention center to the adult section of Ofer prison.

Similarly, Israeli forces arrested 16-year-old American Adam Vej Abdulfattah Karakrah in July. Although he was released in August after his family posted bail, Israeli authorities abruptly reversed the decision to release him.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Association called for "genuine international action" to ensure the release of arbitrarily detained children, the implementation of investigations and an end to torture, starvation and deprivation of medical treatment in Israeli prisons.

Since the start of Israel's genocidal war in October 2023, Israeli forces have detained more than 25,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and thousands more in Gaza.