Targeting Childhood: How Palestinian Children Spend Long Years in Israeli Prisons
On February 16, the Jerusalem District Court sentenced 15-year-old Mohammad Basel Al-Zalabani to 18 years in prison, along with a fine of 300,000 shekels ($83,333).
دير بالك على حالك، حمود…
بلا رحمة، أصدرت إسرائيل حكمًا جائرًا بحق الطفل محمد الزلباني (15 عامًا)، ليقضي 18 عامًا خلف قضبان الظلم.
وكأن القيد لا يكفي، سحبه السجّان الإسرائيلي على عجل، ليحرمه حتى من نظرة أخيرة إلى عائلته، من صوت يخفّف وحشة الإنعزال.
أي ظلم هذا الذي تضيق به… pic.twitter.com/9lou1fKwIg
— Tamer | تامر (@tamerqdh) February 17, 2025
On February 13, 2023, al-Zalabani was arrested by Israeli occupation forces from inside a bus at the Shuafat refugee camp checkpoint in occupied Jerusalem. He was allegedly charged with causing the death of an Israeli soldier, who was accidentally shot by another soldier. The soldier had fired at al-Zalabani, who was allegedly attempting a stabbing operation. However, the bullet struck the soldier instead, killing him.
Al-Zalabani was brought to court in prison clothes, handcuffed, and surrounded by police and guards. His mother was not permitted to see or embrace him.
During his arrest, al-Zalabani endured harsh and difficult interrogations, spending several days at an Israeli detention center. After charges were filed, he was transferred to a juvenile detention center within the occupied Palestinian territories due to his young age, where he remained for the past period.
About two weeks ago, al-Zalabani was moved to Israel’s Damon prison after turning 15.
His case is similar to Ahmad Manasra, a 23-year-old Palestinian detainee who has been held in solitary confinement since November 2021 after being arrested by Israeli forces at the age of 14.
Manasra, a resident of the eastern part of occupied Jerusalem, began serving a nine-and-a-half-year prison sentence as a minor, at the age of 14, after the Israeli court falsely convicted him of carrying out an alleged attack in the illegal settlement of Psgat Zeev in occupied Jerusalem, in an incident that took place when he was 13 years old.
During his time in prison, Manasra’s mental health severely deteriorated and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. According to doctors, Manasra’s condition requires immediate specialist medical attention outside prison.
A month after Ahmad Manasra’s arrest in November 2015, footage of his interrogation was made public. The 10-minute video shows Ahmad being interrogated by three Israeli officers, without the presence of his lawyer or parent in violation of international standards, sparking outrage from human rights groups. He appears increasingly distressed as his interrogators continue to shout at him, directing insults and threats.
Tomorrow is the retrial of Ahmad Manasra who since the age of 13 has been in Israeli detention. Below is a reminder of what he has had to endure. It is also a reminder to all those who would shield Israel from international scrutiny & accountability.#FreeAhmadManasra pic.twitter.com/6oBLxPy8ts
— Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) April 12, 2022
“The court accepted in full the State’s contentions that Manasra poses a threat to himself and to others, which it based on secret intelligence information, citing the State attorney’s office, which argued that, “The isolation is necessary both to ensure the safety of the respondent himself [Manasra], and to ensure that others are safe from the respondent (…) and that isolation is necessary to maintain order and discipline in the prison.”
The court ruled that it was “satisfied that the [Israel Prison Service] is providing suitable medical care, given [Ahmad’s] psychiatric condition”.
The court “disregarded the severity of Manasra’s mental health condition and an assessment made by an independent psychiatrist that the isolation would lead to further deterioration in his mental health and that he needed urgent and immediate medical attention outside the prison,” said Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.
Manasra’s legal team argued that the conditions to which Manasra is subjected amount to torture and ill-treatment, and stand in violation of international human rights law, and demanded his immediate release from solitary confinement.
In response to the court’s decision, Adalah commented that, “The Israeli judiciary systematically uses secret evidence to justify decisions that violate the human rights of Palestinians in all areas under Israeli control. We will continue to fight for Ahmad to receive the treatment he needs.”
In a video footage circulated on social media by activists, Manasra’s mother called for the urgent release of her son, saying “freedom is the only way to heal him.”
“I urge people of conscience to stand in solidarity with my son. He has been held in a cell. He has not seen the sun,” she said.
والد الأسير أحمد مناصرة للجرمق: "قرار تمديد أحمد بالعزل الإنفرادي قرار مجحف بحقه، نُطالب بإطلاق سراحه وتقديم العلاج له خارج السجن". pic.twitter.com/fvrGHItgj9
— الجرمق الإخباري (@aljarmaqnet) November 24, 2022
Unchilding Palestinian Children
According to Defense for Children- Palestine (DCIP), each year, the Israeli military detains and prosecutes around 700 Palestinian children. Three out of four experience physical violence during arrest or interrogation.
By the end of December 2024, Israel was holding more than 300 Palestinian minors in detention or in prison on what it alleged “security” grounds.
In 2016, Israel introduced a new law allowing children between the ages of 12 and 14 to be held criminally responsible, meaning they could be tried in court as adults and be given prison sentences.
Previously, only those 14 or older could be sentenced to prison. Prison sentences cannot begin until the child reaches the age of 14, however.
This new law, which was passed on August 2, 2016 by the Israeli Knesset, enables the Israeli occupation “to imprison a minor convicted of serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder or manslaughter even if he or she is under the age of 14”, according to a Knesset statement at the time the law was introduced.
This change was made after Manasra was arrested in 2015 at the age of 13.
An estimated 10,000 Palestinian children have been held in Israeli military detention over the past 20 years, according to the NGO Save the Children.
Reasons for the arrest of children range from stone-throwing to participation in a gathering of merely 10 people without a permit, on any issue “that could be construed as political”.
