Report: 95% of new Palestinian detainees in Israel jails are youth

Israeli security forces take a Palestinian minor into custody in the West Bank on 20 December 2017 [Wisam Hashlamoun/Apaimages]

“Israeli forces’ violations and arbitrary measures against the prisoners have neglected the age differences,” the committee pointed out.

The committee’s lawyer, Louay Akka, said that dozens of new prisoners who recently arrived at the Israeli Ofer Prison have been exposed to “brutal attacks” during their interrogation.

Akka quoted some of the prisoners’ lawyers as saying that their clients “were severely tortured in detentions”.

“Ahmed Samirat, a 17-year-old Palestinian from the Hebron village of Yatta, was brutally attacked and tortured by 12 soldiers, leaving him unconscious for five hours,” the Palestinian committee said.

The young tortured prisoners included 15 year olds Ibrahim Al-Qawasmi and Louay Nashteh from Hebron, Wael Hashash, 19, and Attallah Hashash, 24, from Nablus, Ahmed Qassem, 19, from Jenin, and Ahmed Abu Rahma (17) from Ramallah, according to the committee.

Over 6,500 Palestinians, including 300 children, are currently languishing in Israeli prisons, according to official Palestinian figures.