World

Israel Detains Over 2,000 Palestinian Children Since October 2023, Report Says

By Today News Hours Editorial Desk

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society released a report on Wednesday stating that Israeli forces have detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since October 2023. The report notes that at least 350 of those children are currently in Israeli prisons under “harsh conditions.” It also reports that Israeli forces arrested at least six children from Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday. Information about the number of children arrested in Gaza is unclear because of the thousands of missing persons in the besieged Gaza Strip and the ongoing policy of enforced disappearance.

The report describes Israeli practices that begin with “intimidation and arrest” and extend to “torture, starvation and denial of healthcare.” It highlights the case of 15‑year‑old Mohammed Hamid, who contracted scabies while detained in Ofer Prison, suffered severe infections, underwent heart surgery, was admitted to intensive care, and ultimately had one of his legs amputated. It also cites the case of 17‑year‑old Walid Ahmed, who died in March 2025 after six months in Megiddo Prison. In December, an Israeli judge halted the investigation into his death, noting evidence of starvation but no definitive cause.

The report mentions American children in Israeli prisons. Ahmed was imprisoned in Megiddo with his friend Mohammed Ibrahim, a teenager from Florida. Ibrahim was released after months of advocacy from U.S.-based organizations and appeals from high‑ranking lawmakers. Ibrahim was not the only young American held without charge; Israeli forces reportedly took Abdalkareem Issa Ahmed Safi from his West Bank home in a late‑night raid in June. He turned 18 in detention, and authorities moved him from a youth holding area into an adult section at Ofer Prison. Similarly, Israeli forces arrested 16‑year‑old Adam Wajeh Abdelfattah Karakrah, also an American, in July. Although he was set for release in August after his family secured bail, Israeli authorities abruptly reversed the decision to free him.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society calls for “real international action” to ensure the release of arbitrarily detained children, enforce investigations, and end torture, starvation and the denial of treatment in Israeli prisons. Israeli forces have detained more than 25,000 Palestinians in the West Bank and thousands more in Gaza since Israel’s war began in October 2023.