More than 7000 Palestinian children were arrested since the outbreak of Jerusalem protests in 2015 a Palestinian official group reported.
In a statement released on the sixth anniversary of Jerusalem protests the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Commission affirmed on Friday that the number of Palestinian child detainees has notably increased in Israeli jails.
“The Israeli occupation authorities have arrested 7000 Palestinian children under the age of 18 since the start of the events” the press release reads.
The commission also documented serious violations of the rights of Palestinian children including mass arrests long prison sentences and tightening punitive measures.
Since 2015 Israel has passed new laws that would legalize the issuance of high prison sentences for children in some cases up to life imprisonment it pointed out.
In this regard head of the commission Abdul Nasser Farwana called on UNICEF and children rights groups to intervene immediately and put an end to the Israeli escalated targeting of Palestinian children.
An estimated 4650 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails including 200 children 40 women and 520 administrative detainees.
