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About 400 Palestinian children held in Israeli jails: Rights group

Saturday, 21 November 2015 12:03 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 21 November 2015 2:23 AM ]

Israeli soldiers arrest a young Palestinian boy following clashes in the West Bank town of al-Khalil (Hebron) on June 20, 2014. (AFP)

A rights group says nearly 400 Palestinian children ranging from 13 to 17 years old are currently being held in Israeli jails.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) said in a statement on Friday that most of the children had been arrested by Israeli forces across the occupied Palestinian lands since the beginning of October, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.

The statement pointed out that Israeli forces arrested roughly 700 Palestinian children across the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in the course of the current uprising that surged early last month.

It also noted that many of those released on bail were being kept under house arrest.

According to the group, the arrested Palestinian children are held at interrogation and detention centers with no food or water.

The statement said all children captured by Israeli troops were subjected to different types of torture and forced to make confession through physical and verbal coercion.

More than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners are currently held in some 17 Israeli jails, dozens of whom are serving multiple life sentences. About 540 Palestinians are being held without trial under the so-called administrative detention.

Administrative detention is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge that allows Israel to incarcerate Palestinians for up to six months. The detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods.

Israeli forces use live bullets

According to a report by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Israeli forces fired live rounds at Palestinian protesters who were marking the Day of Rage after Friday prayers, injuring 443 people in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian demonstrator uses a sling shot to throw stones towards Israeli forces as others watch on during clashes in the Palestinian town of al-Bireh on the outskirts of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, on November 20, 2015. (AFP)

The clashes erupted when Israeli forces attacked thousands of mourners participating in the funeral ceremony held for two Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in al-Khalil (Hebron).

Tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories have dramatically escalated since the Israeli regime’s imposition of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in August.

Some 92 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of others injured since the Israeli regime began a harsh crackdown on the protests.

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