Since Oct. 1, the Israeli armed forces and police have detained over 1,200 children, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) said in a statement Saturday.
The PLO’s Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs (CPA) said at least 2,400 people have been arrested since Oct. 1, half of them were children under 18 years of age. The statement called on on the United Nations to provide protection for Palestinian people, particularly those who are behind bars in Israel.
“Since the start of the popular uprising, the pace of administrative arrests had accelerated as the number reached about 500, including detainees from Jerusalem (East al-Quds) as well as Israeli Arabs," the statement said referring to the Israeli policy of indefinite detention without trial.
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The statement, which was released one day ahead of the U.N.-sponsored International Day of Solidarity with Palestinians, added that a total of 7,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 430 children and 40 women, remained in the regime’s prisons.
The statement added that Palestinians in Israeli prisons are treated in ways against the U.N. resolutions and international laws, and called on the organization to send a special mission to investigate “serious war crimes and crimes against humanity” the Israeli state is committing against detainees and prisoners.
The news comes at a time of heightened tension between Israel and Palestinians as clashes continue in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza strip. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds others injured since Oct.1.
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The clashes were sparked by successive incursions by hard-line Israeli groups into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam.
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