Nearly 2,100 Palestinian children killed since 2000: Ministry

Wednesday, 01 June 2016 8:43 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 01 June 2016 8:43 AM ]

Palestinian mourners pray over the body of Israa Abu Khussa, six, during her funeral in the city of Beit Lahia, north of the besieged Gaza strip, March 12, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Almost 2,100 Palestinian minors have lost their lives and many more sustained injuries at the hands of Israeli military forces since 2000, official Palestinian figures show.

The Palestinian Ministry of Information, in a statement released on Tuesday, announced that 2,079 Palestinian children have been killed and approximately 13,000 injured by the Israeli military over the past 16 years.

The statement added that around 12,000 Palestinian children have been arrested, and 420 are currently being held in Israeli prisons.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces have arrested more than two dozen Palestinian civilians during separate operations across the occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Palestinian sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Israeli military detained 28 Palestinians in At-Tur neighborhood, which is east of the Old City of Quds, and in Sawanah district as well as in Wadi al-Joz neighborhood in East al-Quds early on Wednesday.

Spokesman for the Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies (PPCS), Riyad al-Ashqar, said on May 27 that a total of 729 Palestinians have been subjected to the practice of administrative detention since early January.

Israeli forces arrest a Palestinian man after Friday prayers at the entrance of the Damascus Gate outside the Old City of al-Quds, February 19, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

The figure marks a 35-percent increase compared to the same period last year, when the number of administrative detention orders stood at 493.

He named 50-year-old Hamad Ahmed Abul Fannouneh, a resident of the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron), as the longest-serving administrative detainee, whose jail term has been renewed eight times in a row and has been behind bars since July 7, 2013.

The Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs announced in a report released on April 3 that six Palestinian minors are being held by the Israeli authorities under administrative detention.

There are reportedly more than 6,500 Palestinians held at Israeli jails. Hundreds of the inmates have been apparently incarcerated under the practice of administrative detention, which is a policy under which Palestinian inmates are kept in Israeli detention facilities without trial or charge.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk