Israel nearly doubles number of Palestinian children held without charge: Report

The number of Palestinian children and minors held by the Israeli regime under the controversial “administrative detention” practice has nearly doubled over roughly one year, a report says.

The revelation appeared across newly obtained data from the Israel Prison Service (IPS), as the regime has moved to restrict the same detention measure when used against violent illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank.

IPS data showed that the number of children and minors held in “administrative detention” increased from 103 in January 2025 to 191 in March 2026, The Times of Israel reported on Friday.

The increase also raised the share of Palestinian minors held under “administrative detention” from about 30 percent of all Palestinian minors detained by the regime at the beginning of 2025 to nearly half by March 2026.

The IPS figures showed a particularly sharp increase among minors held in “administrative detention” for longer than one year.

The number rose from six in March 2025 to 50 in March 2026.

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“Administrative detention” is a procedure that the Israeli military has used for decades to detain Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza without bringing them to trial.

Detention orders generally last for six months, but can be renewed indefinitely by a military judge. Detainees are not informed of the allegations against them, while evidence against them can be presented to a court in classified proceedings.

The latest figures place the increase in child administrative detention within a much larger system of detention.

According to the IPS, 3,198 Palestinians are currently being held in “administrative detention,” most of them from the West Bank.

A further 1,358 Palestinians detained during the regime’s war of genocide on Gaza are classified as “unlawful combatants.” The information provided says that many of them have been held at the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility, where allegations of torture and sexual abuse have been reported.

The regime is also holding 4,767 Palestinians classified as “security detainees” and “security prisoners.”

“Administrative detention” has also been used in the past against the settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank, including in cases where the measure was used to remove them from areas where Palestinians were living or working.

That policy has, however, changed under minister for military affairs Israel Katz, who recently prohibited the use of “administrative detention” orders against settlers, while their use against Palestinians has continued to expand.

The Times of Israel reported that some believe Katz’s decision to prohibit “administrative detention” for settlers has played a role in the increase in settler violence.

According to the newspaper, the critics argue that the policy has “contributed to the massive uptick in settler violence over the past two years,” as the regime “is accused of tacitly backing the phenomenon.”

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