The Israeli prison system has become a place of systematic degradation for Palestinian children, where innocence is met with violence, and youth is stripped of all dignity. Recent testimony from Abdullah Al-Janazrah, a 15-year-old boy from Halhul near Hebron, reveals the chilling reality endured by hundreds of detained minors.

Abdullah was abducted from his home in the early hours of January 14, 2025, by Israeli forces who stormed in, demolished the front door, and dragged him away blindfolded and handcuffed. From that moment on, he was subjected to continuous beatings, verbal abuse, and psychological torment. Transferred from Etzion detention centre—where he was denied basic needs like warm clothing and sufficient food—to Ofer Prison, he became one of many Palestinian children facing daily mistreatment behind bars.

According to Abdullah, prison conditions are deliberately dehumanising. Children are kept in freezing cells, denied outdoor access, and violently attacked without cause. “They don’t see us as children,” he said. “We were beaten during Ramadan, given barely enough food to survive. We couldn’t even perform Eid prayers openly.”

This form of cruelty is not isolated. More than 350 Palestinian children are currently imprisoned by Israel, held in facilities where abuse is rampant and medical neglect is routine. In recent months, scabies has spread among detained minors, with no treatment provided. Prisoners are left to suffer in silence, their pleas ignored, their conditions hidden from international scrutiny.

Since the beginning of the ongoing assault on Gaza, the number of detainees has surged to over 9,500, including women and hundreds held without charge under “administrative detention.” At least 63 prisoners have died in Israeli custody—many after months of torture, others simply vanished, unaccounted for.

These are not isolated violations but a deliberate policy of domination, where even the youngest are not spared. In Palestine today, childhood is not only stolen—it is punished.