Palestinian children languish in Israeli jails

More and more concerns are raised every year by the treatment Israel reserves for Palestinian children detained in jails. According to figures available online, between 500 and 700 Palestinian children are arrested by Israeli soldiers each year, 22 per cent of whom are jailed in solitary confinement. A lengthy and detailed report was published a few days ago on the UK's "The Guardian" website collecting witness accounts from Palestinian children who have been jailed by Israeli forces. Majority are teenagers between 15 and 17 years old; most of the time they are accused of throwing stones to soldiers and settlements, or flinging molotv cocktails. Only a few of them are charged with more serious offences, like having links to militant organisations or using weapons. However, according to the people interviewed by "The Guardian", they are treated by Israeli officials as highly dangerous criminals and are often kept in confinement for weeks. “At the beginning, nearly all deny the accusations. Most say they are threatened; some report physical violence. Verbal abuse – "You're a dog, a son of a whore" – is common. Many are exhausted from sleep deprivation,” the report reads.  In the end, the majority of them sign a confession which later they say was coerced. Gerard Horton of Defence for Children International, a human rights group that has been collected testimonies since 2008 on the matter, told "the Guardian": "We're not saying offences aren't committed – we're saying children have legal rights.” Many of the children that have been arrested and kept in detention by Israeli officials report both about physical and verbal abuse. Some said they were arrested in the middle of the night, made to kneel while cuffed and blindfolded and kept for an hour on an asphalt road. One of them is quoted as saying: "They cursed me and threatened to arrest my family if I didn't confess." Another one said sometimes officials make fun of the arrested: “They ask if you want water, and if you say yes they bring it, but then the interrogator drinks it." The Israel Security Agency (ISA) reacted to the allegations of ill-treatment, including electric shocks, saying that: "the claims that Palestinian minors were subject to interrogation techniques that include beatings, prolonged periods in handcuffs, threats, kicks, verbal abuse, humiliation, isolation and prevention of sleep are utterly baseless … Investigators act in accordance with the law and unequivocal guidelines which forbid such actions," "the Guardian" reports. Israeli military law has been applied in the West Bank since Israel occupied the territory more than 44 years ago. Since then, more than 700,000 Palestinians have been detained under military orders.