Photo: AFP. Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian during clashes after Israeli authorities limited access for Muslim worshipers to the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. Photographer: Ahmad Gharabli.
Ramallah, May 21, 2025 – A record 37 percent of all Palestinian child detainees are held in administrative detention without charge or trial, while Israeli authorities enact systematic restrictions on access to legal counsel, family visits, and parliamentary oversight.
323 Palestinian children are detained in Israeli prisons as of March 31, the latest data available from the Israel Prison Service (IPS), which is the highest number since 2017. 119 children, or 37 percent of the total, are held in administrative detention without charge or trial, which is both the highest number and the highest proportion on record since Defense for Children International - Palestine began monitoring these numbers in 2008. These figures highlight Israel’s continued criminalization of Palestinian childhood and its deepening disregard for fundamental legal protections.
“Once again, Israeli authorities have surpassed the previous record for detaining Palestinian children without charge or trial,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP. “These children are enduring deplorable conditions inside Israeli prisons, brutally beaten with a shocking regularity, and denied any contact with the outside world. We demand the immediate release of all Palestinian child prisoners.”
Lawyers representing Palestinian detainees now face mounting barriers, including the cancellation of scheduled visits, severe limitations on visiting hours, prolonged delays extending for months, and bans on bringing in even basic case materials. Lawyers are also forbidden from passing on simple messages from families. In parallel, family visits for all Palestinian detainees, including children, have been completely banned since October 7, 2023. Further, Israel has disallowed the International Committee of the Red Cross from visiting any Palestinian detainees held in Israeli places of detention since October 7, 2023.
In response, the IPS claims these restrictions are necessary to prevent communication with the outside world. In practice, they enforce prolonged isolation, inflicting serious psychological harm, particularly on minors. The erosion of legal access, family contact, and parliamentary oversight is part of a broader Israeli effort to strip Palestinian detainees of basic protections and visibility.
A DCIP staff member recalled their experience visiting detained children in November 2024. They described being treated with hostility and humiliation by guards, forced to wait in the rain for an hour before entering, stripped of belongings, and allowed to bring in only a single piece of paper and a pen. That day, they saw five children, with the longest visit lasting just ten minutes.
“One of the children I saw had been detained for five months and had not been able to speak to any lawyer in that time. When he saw me, he was very enthusiastic to see someone outside of the prison. He started telling me messages to send to his family, sending regards and love, etcetera, and then the guards came, pulled him from his chair, handcuffed him and began brutally beating him. I started shouting and knocking on the glass that divided us, but it did not stop them. The other children around him were watching this and looking terrified.”
Under international law, including Article 37(d) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, every child has the right to prompt access to legal assistance and to challenge the legality of their detention before a court. Additionally, Israel's deliberate obstruction of this right, alongside its prolonged bans on family visits and refusal to allow elected representatives to oversee detention conditions, violates the most basic standards of international humanitarian and human rights law. It is clear that Israel has no intention of maintaining its detention system in accordance with international law. Instead, its treatment of Palestinian prisoners amounts to collective punishment, deliberately imposing degrading conditions, restricting access to food, medicine, and communication with the outside world.
DCIP urgently calls on international actors to condemn Israel’s ongoing assault on Palestinian detainees’ rights, demand the restoration of legal and family access, and press for immediate accountability for Israeli authorities complicit in this system of systematic abuse.
