DaysofPal- More than half of Palestinian children held in Israeli prisons at the end of 2025 were detained without charge or trial, according to new findings released by Defense for Children International-Palestine, raising growing concern over detention practices and reported abuses.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the organization said that 51 percent of 351 detained Palestinian children were being held under administrative detention as of 31 December 2025. It described the figure as both the highest number and the highest proportion recorded since it began tracking such data in 2008.
The figures, based on statistics from the Israel Prison Service, reflect only those held in facilities under its administration and do not include children detained in Israeli military detention and interrogation centers. The absence of data from these sites leaves the total number of detained children unclear.
DCIP said it has collected testimonies from previously detained children describing systematic abuse and degrading conditions in such facilities. These accounts include reports of beatings, denial of medical care, and the use of solitary confinement.
Administrative detention, a longstanding policy, allows Israeli authorities to hold Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable six-month periods. The practice has been widely used, particularly since the escalation of arrests across the occupied Palestinian territories following the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
According to the Palestinian prisoner advocacy group Addameer, more than a third of approximately 9,500 Palestinians in Israeli detention as of 11 March were being held under administrative detention.
Human rights organizations have raised repeated concerns about conditions inside Israeli prisons and interrogation centers. Reports have documented allegations ranging from physical abuse to sexual violence and torture. While Israeli authorities deny these claims, the Israeli rights group B’Tselem described the prison system in August 2024 as a “network of torture camps,” citing testimonies from former detainees.
DCIP stated that the treatment of Palestinian children in detention violates international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits arbitrary detention and the abuse of minors.
The organization warned that the continued use of administrative detention and the reported conditions inside detention facilities highlight serious concerns over the rights and well-being of Palestinian children in custody.
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