[29 November 2023] – Today, MCW released a report relating to the torture and/or ill treatment of Palestinian children held in Israeli military detention and their unlawful transfer from the occupied West Bank. The report is based on 1,100 testimonies collected from children detained between January 2013 and June 2023. The report also relies on, inter alia, testimonies from 40 parents of detained children, 62 former Israeli soldiers and data from the Israel Prison Service (IPS).  

1. The widespread and systematic use of torture and/or ill treatment of Palestinian children detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank;
    
2. The widespread and systematic use of solitary confinement of Palestinian children detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank as part of their interrogation amounting to torture and/or ill-treatment; and
    
3. The widespread and systematic unlawful transfer of population groups, in and out of the occupied West Bank, with a direct connection to points 1 and 2 above, namely:
   
   
   • The unlawful transfer of Palestinian child detainees from the occupied West Bank and their detention in interrogation centres and prisons located inside Israel and, in some cases, their subsequent torture and/or ill-treatment; and
      
   • The unlawful transfer of Israeli civilians into settlements in the occupied West Bank leading to the extensive incarceration of the Palestinian civilian population, including children, who reside in the immediate vicinity of these settlements. 

• Since June 1967, up to 37,000 children have been subjected to physical violence at some point following their arrest in violation of the UN Convention against Torture;
   
• Between 2020-2022, up to 300 children have been subjected to solitary confinement as part of their interrogation in violation of the UN Convention against Torture;
   
• Since June 1967, up to 32,000 children have been unlawfully transferred out of the occupied West Bank to prisons inside Israel in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC has been in possession of this evidence since 16 March 2015. Since 16 March 2015, it is estimated that up to 3,800 children have been unlawfully transferred; 
   
• Since June 1967, up to 500,000 Israeli civilians have moved into settlements in the occupied West Bank (not including occupied East Jerusalem) in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and UN Security Council resolutions with devastating consequences for nearby Palestinian communities. Evidence included in the report indicates that up to 98 percent of Palestinian children detained by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank live within several kilometers of these illegal settlements or related infrastructure, such as roads; and
   
• There are no domestic legal remedies and the international "rules-based order" is failing.