Palestine says over 4,700 young men, women held in Israeli prisons

A total of 4,769 young Palestinian men and women are being held in Israeli prisons, the head of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs said Wednesday.

Raed Abu al-Hummus made the remarks on International Youth Day, observed annually on Aug. 12 to highlight youth issues and their role in building societies.

“The number of young male detainees in Israeli prisons between the ages of 18 and 40 stands at 4,713, while the number of young female detainees is 56,” Abu al-Hummus said.

He said 41 of the 91 Palestinian prisoners killed in Israeli prisons since October 2023 were young people.

“The bodies of 40 of them remain held by Israeli authorities, along with dozens of bodies of prisoners from different age groups,” he added.

Israel has escalated violations against Palestinian prisoners since launching its US-backed genocidal war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.

“It is the right of all Palestinian youth to mark this day like all youth around the world, to dream and plan for a bright future free of all dangers and forms of threat imposed by the occupation on them and on the entire Palestinian people,” Abu al-Hummus said.

“The right to life, freedom, work and movement is guaranteed by international norms and conventions, and this must be realized in the lives of our youth,” he added.

“Palestinian youth are the backbone of the Palestinian people’s struggle and the true fighters for liberation from occupation, injustice and oppression,” Abu al-Hummus said.

“They will remain so until their hopes and dreams of freedom and independence are realized, and until they attain a normal life in security and stability,” he added.

He called on international institutions, particularly youth-focused organizations, to reject the targeting of Palestinian youth and raise their voices for their right to live free from the restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation.

More than 9,400 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli jails, including 92 women and more than 370 children, according to Palestinian and Israeli rights groups. They face torture, starvation and medical neglect, which have led to the deaths of dozens of detainees.

In 1948, Israel was established on land occupied by armed Zionist gangs that carried out massacres and displaced at least 750,000 Palestinians, before Tel Aviv occupied the rest of the Palestinian territories and refused to withdraw from them or allow the establishment of a Palestinian state under UN resolutions.