The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs has condemned the ongoing escalation of brutal punitive measures imposed by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian child prisoners, stressing that the abuse inflicted on minors is no less severe than the repressive policies applied to adult detainees since the beginning of the genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the Commission revealed that Palestinian minors are being subjected to extreme forms of isolation — including double solitary confinement — and are systematically denied their basic rights, such as family visits. This comes amid the occupation’s continued policy of barring thousands of Palestinian prisoners from seeing their loved ones.

According to the Commission, the Israeli Prison Service, particularly at the notorious Megiddo Prison, subjects detained children to humiliating and degrading treatment during the rare occasions they are allowed visits. Prison authorities bring these minors shackled by both hands and feet, blindfolded, and with their heads covered in black bags. The blindfolds are only removed once the children are inside the visiting room, but their hands remain cuffed in a way that makes even holding the phone during visits difficult, while their legs remain chained. Despite repeated demands from legal representatives to remove the cuffs, prison officials defiantly refuse.

The Commission’s lawyer, following a recent inspection visit, reported that the cells where Palestinian children are held fail to meet even the minimum standards required under international law for the treatment of minors or prisoners. The cells are filthy, crawling with insects, and lack proper ventilation, sunlight, and lighting.

The lawyer further documented that the child prisoners are subjected to daily verbal abuse, physical beatings, prolonged isolation, sexual harassment, and collective punishment — all of which constitute flagrant violations of international human rights conventions, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Palestinian human rights groups have called on international bodies, including the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, to urgently intervene to protect these children, hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its crimes, and put an immediate end to the systematic abuse of Palestinian detainees. (ILKHA)