Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons suffer from harsh conditions in prisons, such as hunger, violence, including physical attacks and sexual abuse, and the spread of infectious diseases such as scabies, according to what Save the Children has monitored.

The Israeli occupation is the only entity in the world that regularly tries children in military courts.

On July 19, the International Court of Justice ruled that the continued presence of the State of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal, raising questions about Israeli policies and practices regarding the detention of Palestinian children.

Save the Children stressed that this decision reinforces the need to immediately stop the detention and ill-treatment of Palestinian children, as this represents a disaster for child protection.

Since last October, Save the Children partners have provided support to 49 children detained in Gaza.

Children reported being subjected to physical assault and interrogations, with some saying they were asked to remove their clothes and stand naked in extreme temperatures.

During their detention, the children's guardians were unable to know where they were being held, and upon their release, the children showed clear signs of violence and ill-treatment, such as bruises, psychological trauma, and weight loss.

Some children reported being subjected to sexual assault, harassment, strip searches, and violent beatings, even though torture and cruel or inhuman treatment of children is strictly prohibited under international law.

More than 650 children from the West Bank and an unknown number of children from Gaza have been arrested since last October, according to UN reports.

Of these, about 250 children remain in detention, where they are usually accused of throwing stones, a charge that carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

Save the Children spoke with Firas and Qusay, both 17 years old from the West Bank, where they were arrested in different “Israeli” prisons before the war and were released at the end of 2023.

Qusay said that he saw a child suffering from head injuries as a result of being beaten so severely that he lost consciousness whenever he tried to stand.

He added that the new children detained in the prison were 12 and 13 years old: “The younger children were really afraid and were crying non-stop. I wanted to take care of them, but when I asked the prison guard to let me stay with them, I was violently beaten.”

The Palestinian Authority for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs stated that the reason for the spread of infectious skin diseases among prisoners is due to the lack of sanitary tools and shared mattresses among prisoners.

Firas stated that he was using a lighter to burn the lice, while Qusay was released with lice bites covering his body.

Qusay said: “After the war started, they took everything. We did not have enough blankets and I shared my pillow with another prisoner. In the winter, they would open the windows so we could feel the cold. A child prisoner had a severe rash, so we asked the guard to let him sit.” In the sun or cleaning his body, the guard replied, “Call me when he dies.”

According to Hebrew media reports, a recent increase in mass arrests has led to unbearable overcrowding in Israeli prisons, with reports of widespread mistreatment including detainees being denied medical treatment and being held in cages.

Firas said that the number of child detainees in the place where he was being held increased significantly in the first five days after October 7.

The two children said that conditions in detention deteriorated significantly after the war began. They added that they would not be allowed to talk to or see their families.

Firas added: "The horror we suffered made me think that our life in prison before the war was paradise."

Psychologists warned that the children who were released had difficulty coping with the trauma they experienced in prison and the fear of re-arrest.

Save the Children says children feel guilty about being released while their peers are still in prison, and constant fear prevents them from thinking about the future.

With legal and family access for Palestinian prisoners further restricted since October, testimonies from children and adults who have been released are among the few sources about the conditions they face.

Save the Children continues to demand an immediate halt to the arrest, detention, and trial of Palestinian children by the Israeli military authorities, and to demand the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained children.