Ramallah, November 20, 2025—Two Palestinian boys were detained by Israeli forces then subjected to torture and ill-treatment in the northern occupied West Bank last month.
17-year-old Wesam* and 17-year-old Rami* were detained and intimidated by Israeli forces on October 20 in Jenin, according to documentation collected by Defense for Children International - Palestine. Wesam and Rami were released the next day evening, sustained bruises and contusions, after many hours of ill treatment and torture.
After being internally displaced from their birthplace, the Jenin refugee camp, Wesam and Rami decided to meet in Burqin. "Having missed him and my other childhood friends and classmates, I had lost contact with them due to our displacement. I decided to go after Rami's call to join him," Wesam told DCIP. "When I arrived at his house around 9 p.m., Rami and four other friends were there as well. We spent a long time together, sharing stories and reminiscing about our past."
Both Wesam and Rami were displaced from the Jenin refugee camp in nearby towns after the Israeli military launched one of the largest Israeli military operations in the Jenin area dubbed “Operation Iron Wall,” in January 2025. This Operation incurred massive attacks, forcible displacements, and destruction of civilian infrastructure in the northern occupied West Bank.
Wesam and his family relocated to the Palestinian town of Silat al-Harthiya, northwest of Jenin, while Rami and his family moved to the Palestinian town of Burqin, west of Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank.
“Hunger struck us around 11 p.m., and we decided to head to the town market to buy dinner,” said Rami. “Everything appeared normal until we were just a few meters from the main square of the town, where we were taken aback to see a white Skoda with Palestinian license plate parked with its doors wide open. Initially, we didn't think much of it, but we were suddenly startled when several heavily armed Israeli soldiers emerged from behind the vehicle.”
“They menacingly brandished their weapons towards us, shouting and commanding us to get off our motorcycles, take off all our clothes except for the underwear, and remain exposed. We had no choice but to comply,” continued Wesam.
The majority of Palestinian child detainees are arrested in the middle of the night, according to evidence collected by DCIP. These nighttime arrests can undermine a child’s basic sense of safety and stability and may lead to ongoing psychological distress, while forcing children to be exposed to the elements, especially extreme cold and heat, are also common Israeli military practices.
Around eight soldiers approached Wesam, Rami and the others, and started to violently assault them with their hands, feet, and the stocks of their rifles. One soldier wielded brass knuckles, using them to strike them on the face, back, and shoulders, inflicting painful cuts, bruises and bleeding.
Detained children are protected by several fundamental guarantees in international human rights and humanitarian law, ensuring their right to life, freedom from arrest, and protection against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
“During the assault, another soldier came up to us with a cigarette lighter, dragging it forcefully across our backs and shoulders until it ignited, causing unbearable pain and leaving scars that are still visible today,” added both Wesam and Rami.
“The beating continued for about 15 minutes, amidst our cries and ineffective efforts to ease the pain,” said Rami.
Some of the soldiers pressed knives against the throat and stomach of the two boys, threatening them with death and asking them in Arabic, "Why should we let you live?"
Israeli military arrests are a primary source of trauma for detained Palestinian children. All child detainees undergo some form of ill-treatment at the hands of Israeli forces within the first hours of their arrest, according to documentation collected by DCIP.
“The soldiers bound our hands behind our backs with plastic zip ties and blindfolded us with strips of cloth. They then forced us into the military vehicle and transported us to the Freedom Theater area in Jenin camp,” said Wesam and Rami continued. “They guided us to the top of a staircase in one of the nearby houses, and from under the blindfold, I observed the soldiers bringing in three large fans. They positioned them about a meter away from where we were seated on the ground.”
“We trembled from the cold and fear as they drenched us with soft and alcoholic drinks, recognizable by their scent, soaking us completely,” they added.
Ill treatment of Palestinian children remains widespread and systematic in the Israeli military detention system as children arrested by Israeli forces arrive at Israeli military bases or centers blindfolded, bound and deprived of their basic human rights. Israeli forces use blindfolds and hand ties on almost all the children interviewed by DCIP.
“We endured this for many hours, squatting in front of the fans while the soldiers continuously verbally assaulted us. They monitored us through cameras and hurled insults, pushing and harassing us whenever any of us moved or tried to close our eyes or rest even for a moment,” said Rami.
One of the soldiers approached the children with a bottle containing an unidentified liquid, which the boys suspected was perfume. He forced them to open their mouths and sprayed the liquid inside, causing them to experience severe shortness of breath and a relentless cough.
“After about six hours of confinement, I was in urgent need of a bathroom. After much begging, one of the soldiers permitted me to go and guided me to the garden of the house, where he temporarily took off my cuffs. Once I was done, he re-secured my restraints and brought me back to my spot. The same treatment was given to my other friends. We endured this ordeal until the next morning, without any food or water,” said Rami.
“In the morning, a soldier approached and instructed us to open our mouths, claiming he would provide us with water, but he only offered each of us a few drops, without adequate food or hydration,” Wesam continued.
Before a few hours of their release on the next day, October 21, the soldiers transported Wesam and Rami once more in a military vehicle around 4 p.m. and placed them in another house that had been converted into a military base, during which they faced another wave of physical and psychological violence.
“They told us that they were taking us to the Gaza Strip, which filled us with terror,” said both boys.
In some detention cases, Israeli forces abruptly force the children out of military vehicles before disappearing. Still bound with blindfolds and cuffs, the children found themselves abandoned far from their homes, unable to return after hours of ill-treatment and torture and seeking for any assistance from their surroundings.
They brought the children back into the military vehicle around 6:30 p.m., and compelled them to sing under threats and beatings, merely to humiliate and deride them. After a while, the military vehicle stopped, and the soldiers forcefully pushed the children out of the vehicle and left the area. The children managed to loosen the blindfolds and cuffs, and they realized they were in the Al-Jabriyat neighborhood of Jenin, close to the Jenin refugee camp.
“We were utterly drained and devoid of our clothing. We walked approximately 500 meters until we reached a populated area, where a Palestinian man assisted us and took us in his car to Jenin Governmental Hospital,” said Rami.
Wesam and Rami received first aid, underwent examinations, and had x-rays taken, which showed that they had significant bruises all over their bodies, along with swelling and an infection in their eyes due to the beating.
After midnight, both Wesam and Rami returned with their parents to their temporary homes in Silat al-Harthiya and Burqin, struggling to move because of the pain.
"The physical agony and the terrifying, humiliating experiences I endured that night continue to haunt me, and I cannot seem to forget them," said Rami.
"The pain is unrelenting, while fear and anxiety continue to haunt me from the traumatic experience I went through," said Wesam.
Around 500 to 700 Palestinian children, some as young as 12, are arrested, detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military detention system each year. In addition to physical and psychological abuse during arrest and detention, Palestinian child detainees are overwhelmingly denied bail and routinely held in pretrial custodial detention for up to several months.
International juvenile justice standards, which Israel has obliged itself to implement by signing the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, demand that children be deprived of their liberty only as a last resort and never subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
Despite this, Israel remains the only country that automatically prosecutes children in military courts lacking basic fair-trial guarantees, and its frequent, systematic detention of children violates these international obligations.
*Wesam and Rami are pseudonyms. The names are known to DCIP but not disclosed in order to protect their privacy.
