350 still held as Israel arrests 2,000 Palestinian children since 2023

The figures describe two different stages of detention. More than 2,000 Palestinian children were reportedly arrested since the Gaza war began in October 2023. At least 350 were still in custody when the Palestinian Prisoners Society issued its statement. This means many others were released, transferred, or otherwise no longer counted as detained, although the article does not explain each outcome.

The total comes from monitoring and documentation by the Palestinian Prisoners Society. It reported that Israeli forces arrested six children overnight in two Hebron-area towns. The group also warned that the number of children detained from Gaza remains unclear, so the overall figures may not capture the full picture.

The remaining 350 children are reportedly held under harsh conditions. The group linked detention to intimidation, torture, starvation, isolation, and denied health care. It also criticized administrative detention and weak accountability, saying children face uncertain futures, disrupted family life, and interrupted education while they remain in custody.

The reported arrests are taking place in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where Israeli army raids and attacks have intensified since October 2023. The article identifies the Hebron governorate as one specific location. It also notes that arrests and detention from the Gaza Strip are harder to count.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society said Israeli forces arrested six children overnight in Sa'ir and al-Shuyukh. Both are towns in the Hebron governorate. The statement gives the number of children and the locations, but it does not provide their names, ages, alleged offenses, or current detention locations.

These six arrests form part of the group’s broader estimate of more than 2,000 children arrested since October 2023. The organization says at least 350 remain detained. It also warns that thousands of people are missing in Gaza, including children, and that enforced disappearance continues, making a complete count difficult.

Administrative detention is a policy described in the article as holding Palestinian detainees without a publicly stated charge or a clear timeframe for release. Unlike a detention tied to a publicly explained criminal case and known schedule, it leaves the legal basis and end date uncertain. The Palestinian Prisoners Society says Israel uses this policy for Palestinian detainees, including children.

The key mechanism is uncertainty. A child can remain in custody even when authorities have not publicly stated the charge or when release is not set for a definite date. The article does not detail the review process or the length of individual orders. It says Israeli courts contribute to continuing violations and that effective accountability is absent.

For children, the consequences reach beyond confinement. The group says administrative detention deprives them of family and educational stability and creates an uncertain future. It called for an end to administrative detention, coercive interrogations, torture, starvation, and denied medical treatment.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society says detained Palestinian children face a pattern of harsh treatment. Its list includes intimidation, arrest, torture, starvation, isolation, and denial of health care. The organization warned that these practices are escalating. It also criticized administrative detention and coercive interrogations, which can deepen uncertainty and pressure during detention.

The article gives two concrete cases. Walid Khaled Ahmad died in Megiddo Prison in March 2025, with medical findings indicating severe emaciation, malnutrition, and dehydration. Fifteen-year-old Mohammed Hamid developed scabies in Ofer Prison, followed by serious infections affecting vital organs. He underwent heart surgeries, entered intensive care, and later had a leg amputated.

The group says these cases show why medical care and accountability matter. Hamid continued treatment for about three months after release, which the organization called an evasion of responsibility. It also said the investigation into Ahmad’s death was closed, raising questions about accountability.

When detention is prolonged or has no clear end date, children can lose family contact, schooling, and a stable routine. The Palestinian Prisoners Society says administrative detention deprives children of family and educational stability. Uncertainty can also affect families, who may not know when a child will return or how to support them.

Inadequate care can produce severe consequences. Walid Khaled Ahmad died in Megiddo Prison in March 2025, amid findings of severe emaciation, malnutrition, and dehydration. Mohammed Hamid developed scabies in Ofer Prison, then serious infections affecting vital organs. He needed heart surgeries and intensive care before one leg was amputated.

Hamid continued treatment for about three months after authorities released him. The group described that release as avoiding responsibility for his medical care. These cases led the organization to call for release of arbitrarily held children, an end to torture and starvation, and access to medical treatment and accountability.

The article says information about children detained from Gaza remains unclear. Thousands of people are missing in the enclave, including children. That missing-person crisis makes it difficult to know whether some children are detained, dead, displaced, or otherwise unaccounted for. The continued practice of enforced disappearance adds another barrier to reliable monitoring.

Enforced disappearance generally means a person is taken or kept by authorities, or with their involvement, while officials deny the detention or hide the person’s fate or whereabouts. This can block families, lawyers, and monitors from learning where the person is or what happened. That definition comes from established international human-rights usage; the article itself names the practice but does not define it in detail.

Because of these gaps, the reported total may not show the full number of Gaza children affected. The Palestinian Prisoners Society called for international action, including releasing arbitrarily detained children and ending practices that conceal detention or deny basic rights.

International law generally treats detention of children during conflict as exceptional and requires humane treatment. Children should not be tortured, starved, isolated unlawfully, or denied medical care. Their detention should have a lawful basis, be reviewed promptly, and last no longer than necessary. These safeguards come from widely recognized child-rights and humanitarian-law standards, not from specific provisions quoted in the article.

Due process means children and their families should receive understandable information about the reasons for detention, access to legal assistance, and a meaningful chance to challenge it. Children should generally be separated from adults unless family unity requires otherwise, and authorities should protect family contact. Their age, development, and education should shape every decision.

The article’s reported conditions conflict with those protections. It describes unclear charges, uncertain release dates, coercive practices, denied health care, and disrupted education. International action would therefore focus on release or review, humane custody, medical treatment, family communication, and accountability for abuses.