DaysofPal- Every year on April 17, Palestinians commemorate Prisoners’ Day to honor those held in Israeli jails and to raise awareness of their ongoing struggle for freedom under Israeli occupation. The date marks the 1974 release of Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi, the first Palestinian freed in a prisoner swap with Israel, and has since become a symbol of collective resistance and sacrifice.
Today, nearly 10,000 Palestinians are imprisoned by Israel, according to the prisoners’ rights group Addameer. Among them are hundreds of women and children, many held without charge or trial under administrative detention, an Israeli policy that allows indefinite incarceration based on undisclosed evidence.
Israel remains the only country in the world that tries children in military courts. According to Defense for Children International, Palestine, between 500 and 700 Palestinian minors are prosecuted annually in these courts, with many facing harsh sentences for minor offenses like stone-throwing, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. As of now, around 400 Palestinian children remain in Israeli custody, most in pre-trial detention.
One of the most tragic examples is the case of Ahmad Manasra, arrested at age 13 in 2015 after being run over by a car and beaten by an Israeli mob. Although too young at the time to be held criminally responsible under Israeli law, authorities delayed his sentencing until he turned 14.
He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia after years of incarceration. On April 10, 2025, after more than nine years behind bars, Ahmad was finally released.
The current war has only intensified the crisis. Since October 7, 2023, when the war in Gaza began, Israel has detained approximately 30,000 Palestinians. The number of political prisoners has doubled, rising from 5,250 to nearly 10,000.
During limited ceasefire exchanges, 1,793 Palestinians were released while Hamas freed 38 Israeli captives, including eight bodies. Still, the ratio of arrests to releases has been stark: for every one prisoner released, 15 more were detained.
The broader impact of Israel’s incarceration policies is staggering. Since 1967, an estimated one million Palestinians, or about 20% of the population, have been imprisoned, according to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs. The result is a society where almost every family has experienced the trauma of arrest.
For many Palestinians, mass imprisonment is not just a byproduct of occupation but a calculated tool of control. As Israel’s detention campaign escalates, the struggle for freedom remains at the heart of the Palestinian experience, passed from one generation to the next, still waiting for justice.
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