A Palestinian official body said, on Monday, that the policy of house arrest pursued by Israel in Jerusalem has affected 600 Palestinian children since the beginning of 2022.
The Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs stated, in a report, a copy of which was received by Anadolu Agency, that “more than 600 cases of house arrest occurred during the year 2022.”
She added, “House confinement is a dagger in the side of Jerusalemites, and it began to spread widely since 2015.”
According to the Commission, “the Israeli occupation authorities resort to house arrest as a form of punishment for Jerusalemite children under the age of 14, because Israeli law does not permit their imprisonment.”
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She said that the child is being held inside his house throughout the period that the Israeli court is examining his file, until the end of the judicial procedures and the court issuing its verdict in his case.
She stated that the penalty of house arrest ranges from a few days to more than a year, “and this period is not counted from the period of the actual sentence issued later against the child.”
And she added, “Children are prevented from leaving their homes throughout their house arrest and are given tracking devices (electronic bracelets). Rarely is a child allowed, after months of house arrest, to go to school or clinic, accompanied by the sponsor, back and forth.”
Regarding the types of house arrest, she explained that it is of two types: one in which the child remains in his home and among his family members, and the second keeps the child away from the family home and sometimes outside his city, as is the case with four children currently.
The Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs indicated that “house arrest results in depriving children of their right to education, and a constant feeling of anxiety and fear.”
The Commission called on human rights and humanitarian institutions to stand by children against whom arbitrary measures are being taken that “destroy their minimum life rights as stipulated in the Conventions on the Rights of the Child.”
According to data from the Palestinian Prisoners Club, the Israeli army has arrested more than 9,300 Palestinian children under the age of 18 since 2015.
While about 4,700 Palestinians are currently detained, including 33 female prisoners and 150 children and minors.