Stop child military detention in the West Bank: take action
One minute Amir is playing football with his best friend at the local playground. The next, he is surrounded by Israeli soldiers, handcuffed, beaten, pushed into a military vehicle, and taken from his home in the West Bank to a detention centre in Israel.
Credit: Shatha Safi
Amir’s story is not unusual for children in the West Bank. UN estimates and Israeli military data indicate that around 38,000 to 55,000 Palestinian children in the occupied Palestinian territory were imprisoned under military law between 1967 and 2022. Before 7 October 2023, around 170 Palestinian children were being held in detention but since then, over 1,300 children have been detained.
Our new campaign, “Childhood Behind Bars”, is mobilising people to call on the UK Government to:
Urge Israel to stop using traumatising practices against Palestinian children in detention;
Stop the unlawful transfer of Palestinian children outside the occupied West Bank;
Enact legislation that bans trade with and investment in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Child detainees – protected under international law
Children’s wellbeing and protection is of utmost importance for the international community. This is signalled by the special protection awarded to children through the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.
Among other provisions, the CRC asserts that all detained children must be treated as innocent until proven guilty, to be granted a fair and prompt trial, and an interpreter if they do not understand the language spoken and used. The rights of child detainees are also safeguarded by other international treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The reality of military detention for Palestinian children
Yet, despite the existing wide-ranging protection of children’s rights, Palestinian children in the West Bank experience poor treatment, from traumatising nighttime arrests in their homes, to inhumane practices such as blindfolding, use of single plastic ties and beatings.
Most children, some as young as 12, are arrested under the charge of stone throwing, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years. Some children are held in administrative detention – a practice where children can be locked up without trial or without having committed an offence – on the grounds that they plan to break the law. A child held in administrative detention can be detained indefinitely, without legal proceedings, and without access to classified evidence against them.
Like Amir, Palestinian children are also often transferred to detention centres in Israel, outside the occupied Palestinian territory, and therefore in violation of international law.
The root cause of child military detention? Israel’s occupation
Arrests and detention are a recurring practice against the Palestinian community in the West Bank. Children, along with their families and wider community, do not only have to face the trauma of their detention, but also live in fear of being rearrested under spurious or no charges, or witness the traumatic arrest of their loved ones.
After his arrest, Amir became anxious and fearful. Communication with his family became difficult, and football – a sport he’d always loved – became a trigger for bad memories rather than joy.
It is important to understand that the practice of arbitrary child military detention does not occur in a vacuum, but within the context of Israel’s 58-year-long occupation of the Palestinian territory. International authoritative bodies such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), with its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, and the UN General Assembly resolution of 19 September 2024, declared the occupation illegal and called on Israel to put an end to it. Israel has ignored such calls so far.
Join our campaign – write to your MP
The UK, as Israel’s close ally, has a responsibility to hold Israel to account and pressure them to follow international legal standards. The UK also has a legal obligation towards the self-determination of the Palestinian people and must oppose the occupation with all its available means.
This is why we have launched this important campaign, “Childhood Behind Bars”, to address military child detention and Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory. We believe we mustn't stay silent on these injustices and that together we can raise our voices to bring about change.
Please join us in standing against the arbitrary detention of Palestinian children by writing to your MP today:
FIND OUT MORE - CHILDHOOD BEHIND BARS REPORT
Our report details Israel’s systematic detention of children in the West Bank, and the impact it is having.