Israel is holding in detention some 200 Palestinian children, today said Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Commission, on the eve of the Palestinian Child Day, which coincides on April 5 of every year.
He said in a statement that Israel arrested since the year 2000 no less than 1700 Palestinian minors ranging in age between 12 and 18 years, and there were cases reported of detention of children less than 10 years old.
Qadri said most of the detained children were from occupied East Jerusalem.
He also said the children undergo very rough interrogation process and torture during detention, which is a violation of international human rights standards.
“The violations Palestinian children in Israeli occupation prisons face have never happened in the history of the United Nations and human rights, which is a disgrace to this organization and international human rights organizations, which have failed to provide the minimum protection for the Palestinian children,” he said.
He urged the UN Secretary-General, the Human Rights Council, UNICEF and Amnesty International to act quickly to pressure Israel to release the prisoners, particularly the children whose life is under threat due to the coronavirus outbreak and Israel’s failure to look after them.
