For 10 lengthy months, 16-year-old Hussein* lived in the identical garments he was carrying when he was arrested on 3 October.
When he was launched, his pants have been nonetheless stained with blood.
On October 3, he was shot in the correct thigh by Israeli forces at a watchtower close to the occupied West Financial institution metropolis of Hebron.
Hussein fell to the bottom and noticed two Israeli troopers approaching him. They beat him and kicked him within the head till he misplaced consciousness.
He wakened three days later in a hospital, solely to appreciate that he had undergone surgical procedure and was about to be taken to Ofer Jail.
That was simply days earlier than Israel unleashed its ongoing assault on Gaza and the final time he acquired medical consideration whereas in detention.
I am unable to stroll
Hussein is considered one of a whole lot of youngsters Israel has detained over time, a quantity that has multiplied dramatically since Israel started its assault on Gaza on Oct. 7 and stepped up its each day raids and mass arrest campaigns within the West Financial institution.
He beloved going to the fitness center and difficult himself to elevate extra weight. He additionally beloved enjoying soccer together with his buddies.
He now limps, wants crutches to stroll and spends a lot of the day mendacity on a mattress.
He’ll want joint implant surgical procedure as soon as he finishes rising on the age of 18.
“I’m going via a extremely tough state of affairs… I can’t stroll correctly or attain any of my buddies,” Hussein informed Al Jazeera.
Medical neglect is only one of many types of abuse, torture, humiliation and mistreatment confronted by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention facilities, in response to a number of human rights teams.
Along with UN businesses, they’ve make clear the systematic abuses which might be happening.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society has documented greater than 700 arrests of youngsters since 7 October. At present, 250 of them stay in detention in Israel.
“This determine, particularly in comparison with earlier durations, could be very excessive,” mentioned Amani Sarahneh, spokeswoman for the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society.
Sarahneh added that kids are subjected to abuse and torture in the identical means as grownup Palestinian prisoners.
“A Palestinian little one will most likely expertise each abusive tactic you may think about,” he mentioned, including that Israeli forces have used them towards Palestinian kids for a few years.
Palestinian detainees are crushed, uncovered to the chilly for lengthy durations and disadvantaged of meals, sleep, water and medical care, a report by the UN Human Rights Workplace discovered final month.
Kids at the moment reside “in a continuing state of starvation inside Israeli prisons,” Sarhaneh mentioned.
‘Simply sufficient to maintain us alive’
When Wassim was launched from detention, he was poor in nutritional vitamins, iron and calcium.
“The jail was… uninhabitable,” he mentioned.
“I requested for medical consideration every single day, however… no physician appeared, they did not even exist. [in the prison]“Wassim mentioned.
Meals rations have been additionally largely insufficient: Hussein mentioned he and the 9 different prisoners in his cell got meals in “a small plastic cup.”
“It was sufficient to maintain us alive,” he mentioned.
“Most days we ate white rice… generally it was undercooked. We’d eat, really feel full for 5 minutes, after which proceed the remainder of the day as if we have been fasting.
“We needed to ask for water and ended up ingesting contaminated water from the bathroom. We had no different choice,” she recalled.
Israeli jail authorities closed the canteen the place prisoners may purchase meals and fundamental provides and eliminated electrical home equipment, together with sizzling plates and kettles.
Hussein’s father, Omar*, mentioned he was very frightened about his son, particularly after October 7.
“After the conflict in Gaza, after we heard how unhealthy issues have been for Palestinians in Israeli prisons, we have been devastated,” Omar informed Al Jazeera.
“We cried… day and night time,” she recalled.
Omar had hoped Hussein can be launched in November when Israel and Hamas reached a brief ceasefire settlement that included the trade of dozens of Palestinian prisoners with a few of the captives held in Gaza.
However regardless of his damage, Hussein was not launched.
“They disadvantaged him of his childhood and the remainder of his life,” Omar mentioned.
In keeping with Omar, Hussein, who has turn into a lot calmer, now has problem reintegrating into his group. In crowds, he typically retreats to a nook and infrequently wakes up with nightmares.
“I simply wish to work and construct a home”
Within the city of al-Mughayyir, close to Ramallah, one other Palestinian little one was launched on 8 August.
Ahmed Abu Naim, now 18, has been out and in of Israeli detention facilities since he was 15, generally held below administrative detention for renewable six-month durations below the pretext of secret proof.
There was an “unprecedented and horrifying improve” within the variety of kids in administrative detention, in response to Serhaneh of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, who mentioned a minimum of 40 kids are being held below the extensively criticized apply.
Requested to check his detention earlier than and after October 7, Abu Naim mentioned: “The final time I used to be arrested, it was completely different; it was a lot worse than the opposite instances.”
The primary time he was detained was for 2 days. The second time he was detained for simply over a yr.
The third time, he spent six months in detention.
He mentioned his most up-to-date expertise was “1,000 instances more durable.”
“They didn’t deal with us in another way as a result of we have been minors,” mentioned Abu Naim, who recalled being severely crushed “so many instances.”
“Typically they even sprayed us with fuel,” he mentioned.
He wore a baseball cap and tried to talk bravely, keen to seem older and stronger.
Abu Naim was recovering from scabies, a pores and skin illness that unfold in Megiddo jail, the place he was held.
“Hygiene requirements have been poor. We weren’t allowed to scrub and we had no entry to cleaning soap or detergent,” she mentioned.
Overcrowded cells typically maintain twice as many inmates as they have been constructed to carry, with many sleeping on the ground or on mouldy mattresses.
“Everybody there acquired scabies, together with me,” he mentioned. As soon as once more, there was no medical response to the outbreak.
“We weren’t given any medical care, after all. I had to purchase my very own drugs after I returned residence,” she mentioned.
After Oct. 7, cell searches turned extra frequent, Abu Naim mentioned.
When jail guards entered the cell, all prisoners needed to be on their knees with their palms on their heads. In any other case, “they’d unleash canine on us,” he mentioned.
“The guards would beat anybody, it didn’t matter in the event you have been injured after they arrested you. They might kick you within the stomach, within the ribs, within the shoulders,” he mentioned.
Household visits, in addition to routine visits by attorneys, have additionally “fully ceased,” mentioned Serhaneh of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, affecting the conduct and morale of detained kids.
Abu Naim had no entry to a tv or radio to assist him move the time, particularly in the course of the first 50 days of Israel’s assault on Gaza.
“We had no thought what was occurring within the outdoors world. Each month or two we acquired information of a brand new prisoner,” he mentioned.
“My village was attacked by unlawful settlers and my father was shot and injured, however I solely came upon about it after I returned residence,” he added.
Abu Naim mentioned he now needs to work together with his father in building as a substitute of going again to high school.
Because the eldest of 10 siblings, he all the time felt a robust sense of accountability in the direction of his household and their well-being.
When requested about his goals, he mentioned: “I simply wish to not be kidnapped once more. I simply wish to work and construct a home.”
*Some names have been modified to guard the id of the people.
