Israel detained 1,200 Palestinian children since October 1

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) says Israeli forces have arrested some 2,400 Palestinians, half of them children, since the beginning of October.

The PLO’s Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs (CPA) said in a statement on Saturday that this large group of civilians had been detained for varying terms, calling on the United Nations to provide protection for Palestinian people, particularly those who are languishing behind bars in Israel.

The statement, which was released on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinians (November 29), added that a total of 7,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 430 children and 40 women, remained in the regime’s jails.

“Since the start of the popular uprising, the pace of administrative arrests had accelerated as the number (of those held without trial) reached about 500, including detainees from Jerusalem (East al-Quds) as well as Israeli Arabs," it further read.

The PLO commission, which monitors prisoners' affairs and conditions, also demanded the UN to send investigation missions to probe “serious war crimes and crimes against humanity” currently committed against the detainees. It also said that the Tel Aviv’s actions within the detention centers were against UN resolutions, the UN Charter and the international humanitarian law.

The commission noted that Israel adopted a policy of carrying out wide arrest campaigns in the Palestinian territories, targeting mostly people below 18 years old.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of others injured since the Israeli regime began a harsh crackdown on the Palestinians in early October.

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