Concerns over Palestinian children in Israeli custody

While there have been emotional scenes after the release of 477 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, concerns are being raised about the plight of 164 Palestinian children from the West Bank in Israeli custody.

They were either sentenced or are being detained, mainly for stone-throwing, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which, along with other international NGOs, is appealing to the Israeli government to release all Palestinian children in Israeli military detention. It is unclear whether the children will be part of the second wave of 550 releases in the coming two months. “UNICEF calls on the Israeli Government to release Palestinian child detainees so that they can be reunited with their families,” said Jean Gough, UNICEF special representative in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). “As stated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the detention of children should be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time,” she said. The Israeli Justice Ministry was unable to confirm the number of Palestinian children detained by Israel.

Rami AbuHaneieh, aged 14 and from Hebron, was arrested by Israeli forces one month ago for throwing stones. “I have not been permitted to see or speak with him since his arrest,” said his mother, Khloud AbuHaneieh, a primary school teacher. His lawyer was allowed to visit Rami once, said Khloud, adding that her son may be released as part of the second wave of the prisoner swap.

International NGO Defence for Children International-Palestine Section (DCI-Palestine) also issued an urgent appeal for the children to be freed.

PressTV: UN calls on Israel to stop harassing kids - The UN has criticized Israeli violence against Palestinian children, urging the international community to scale up its protective measures for minors living under Israeli occupation. Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said on Thursday that ''settlers' violence and vandalism and night time raids and detentions by Israeli occupation forces, house demolitions, threatened expulsions, and a host of other practices'', have deprived Palestinian children of safety and a sense of security.