– I am giddy with happiness, 17-year-old Mohammad dar-Darwish told the BBC after his release at the weekend. He was accused of throwing a petrol bomb at Israeli soldiers. He denies having done this to the channel. Throughout the weekend, families both in Gaza, in the West Bank and in Israel have been reunited with their loved ones. Hamas has released 50 of the hostages kidnapped from their homes during the attack on Israel on October 7 after the agreement on the temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip came into force. Children and the elderly in particular have been released by Hamas. Parallel to this, Israel has released 117 Palestinian prisoners, and published lists with names, sex, age and the reason the prisoners were in Israeli prisons. And last night another 33 prisoners were released. A review by news of the lists shows that over 60 per cent of those released from Israeli captivity are minors. The vast majority of the minor prisoners are 17 years of age, but children as young as 14 have also been released. – It is completely unacceptable to abduct, kidnap, imprison and use children as bargaining chips in such a game. And that is what both parties do. We condemn the use of civilians as bargaining chips. This is not how war should be waged. This is what Nora Ingdal, head of foreign affairs at Save the Children, says to news. Save the Children: 145 children imprisoned since the war broke out On Monday evening, Hamas announced that it has received a new list of 33 names that will be released on Monday. This list has not been accessed or reviewed by news. However, according to Hamas, at least 30 of these prisoners are also minors. According to the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem, at least 146 Palestinian minors were in Israeli captivity at the end of September. Nora Ingdal is head of foreign affairs at Redd Barna. Photo: Nora Lie/Save the Children Ingdal says 145 children were arrested during October, after the war in Gaza broke out. – The number has increased tremendously. Children are often picked up on the street and imprisoned by the IDF, mainly in the West Bank. They are taken in and brought before military courts. That in itself is a violation of international law. In addition, children are isolated and not brought with their families, and they are often denied assistance from a lawyer, says Ingdal. Of a total of 300 Palestinian prisoners who have been eligible for release, 90 percent are 18 years or younger, according to an analysis that Sky News has done. The offenses the minors are accused of, according to the IDF’s lists, range from grievous bodily harm to stone throwing and “contact with an enemy organisation”. According to NTB, many have been imprisoned without conviction. According to Ingdal, stone-throwing is the most common charge among children arrested by the Israeli Defense Forces. – In 90 per cent of the cases where charges are brought for stone throwing, the children are convicted and receive long sentences, she says. The relationship between Israel and Palestine has for many years been called the world’s most difficult conflict. The level of conflict rose to new heights after Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel on Saturday 7 October 2023. Several arrested for “support for hostile activity” The BBC reported in October that dozens of Israeli Arabs had been arrested for expressing support for Gaza on social media . According to Reuters, Palestinians in the West Bank report mass arrests since the start of the war. Amnesty International says it has documented a drastic increase in “severe ill-treatment and deliberate humiliation” of Palestinians arrested in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. – We hear from colleagues who work on the ground that the IDF raids Palestinian villages in the West Bank and checks the mobile phones of young people. They then check whether they have liked something on social media that can be perceived as support for hostile activity, says Ingdal. – We have seen a sharp increase in terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria. Since the terrorist attack on 7 October, we have registered over 700 attempts, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) writes in an e-mail to news. – The IDF conducts nightly anti-terrorist operations to apprehend suspects, many of whom are part of the Hamas terrorist organization, the IDF e-mail further states. The UN has previously sharply criticized Israel’s treatment of children in captivity. This summer, Save the Children published a report based on interviews with 228 children who have previously been in Israeli captivity. 86 per cent of the children who were asked stated that they had been beaten. 69 percent of the children reported that they had been strip-searched during interrogation. – The entire practice is strongly criticised. It is a fundamental right for children not to be abused, detained or isolated in prisons. Israeli correctional facilities: Rights are safeguarded In an e-mail to news, the prison service in Israel writes that they are not aware of cases where children have been mistreated in Israeli captivity, but that inmates can complain about the treatment. – Minors in Israeli captivity are imprisoned on the basis of court orders, after being charged with serious crimes such as attempted murder, violence and the use of explosives, writes a spokesperson for Israeli correctional services. Furthermore, the spokesperson writes that all the inmates’ rights are safeguarded. – Some of the now released children must have been imprisoned for grievous bodily harm and other more serious crimes. Can’t children be punished for that? – Yes, but children must be treated according to their age and under basic principles of legal certainty. If children commit serious crimes, they must be followed up and receive an adapted youth sentence. They should not be brought before military courts and imprisoned together with adults, replies Ingdal. Ingdal points out that Israel has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. – Israel is expected to live up to its obligations and treat all children accordingly.
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