The Defense for Children International movement said that the Israeli occupation authorities issued an administrative detention order against the child Moein Ghassan Salahat (14 years old) from the town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem, making him the youngest administrative detainee in the occupation prisons.

The occupation forces arrested Salahat at dawn on February 19 after raiding his family’s home in Beit Fajjar, and issued an administrative detention order against him for four months on March 2, according to what was documented by the Defense for Children International movement.

According to the global movement, Salahat is the youngest Palestinian child to be placed under an administrative detention order since the global movement for children began documenting cases of administrative detention of children in 2008.

The Global Movement stressed that “administrative detention violates basic fair trial rights, but the occupation forces are now expanding this arbitrary policy to detain Palestinian children under administrative detention without charge or trial,” indicating that “the case of the child Moeen Salahat sets a dangerous precedent, as it shows that no Palestinian child, regardless of his age, is immune from arbitrary detention.”

Mu'in, a ninth-grader and the only child in his family, was placed under administrative detention, a practice in which Palestinians, including children, are held without charge or trial, based on "secret evidence" that the detainee and his lawyer cannot see.

Regarding his arrest, the Global Movement stated that the occupation soldiers raided the home of the child Salahat’s family at around 4:30 a.m. on the nineteenth of last month, and immediately detained his father after blindfolding him and tying his hands behind his back. When Moein woke up to look for his father, the soldiers took him and began searching the house.

The Global Movement indicated that the occupation soldiers did not hand the family members an arrest warrant, and asked them not to move, while the soldiers vandalized their property and seized their phones and computers.

Moein's detention is scheduled to continue until June 18, 2025.

Arbitrarily depriving Palestinian children of their right to liberty through the use of administrative detention, which involves imprisoning individuals for long periods without charge or trial and often based on secret evidence, amounts to arbitrary detention.

Since October 7, 2023, the occupation authorities have imposed severe restrictions on lawyers who attempt to provide consultations or visit Palestinian detainees, including children, in occupation prisons.

Lawyers often face access barriers, arbitrary delays, and bureaucratic procedures, making it nearly impossible to provide an adequate defense. Moreover, Israeli military courts routinely rely on “secret evidence” that is not accessible to the detainee or his or her lawyer, denying Palestinian prisoners their right to a fair trial. In many cases, Palestinian children held in administrative detention go without seeing a lawyer for weeks, perpetuating the cycle of arbitrary imprisonment and impunity.