Palestinian mothers detail Israeli detention conditions for children

September 23, 2026 at 01:42 PM1 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Fidaa Zalabani, mother of 17-year-old Mohammed from Shu'fat refugee camp, describes her son's three-year detention in Megiddo Prison. Mohammed was arrested at age 13 in February 2023 and sentenced to 18 years. Zalabani reports hunger, beatings, and restricted bathing for child detainees.

Key Facts

Mohammed Zalabani was arrested in February 2023 at age 13 and sentenced to 18 years for allegedly causing the death of an Israeli soldier.
Fidaa Zalabani has been barred from visiting her son at Megiddo Prison for about two years.
In September 2025, Israel's Supreme Court found the Prison Service failed to provide adequate food to Palestinian prisoners.
Approximately 1,900 Palestinian children from the West Bank have been arrested since October 2023, according to prisoner advocacy groups.

Detention Conditions

Fidaa Zalabani said child detainees at Megiddo Prison often go to sleep hungry, with guards allowing no more than four loaves of bread for 13 prisoners. She added that Megiddo Prison only recently began allowing child detainees to bathe more than once a week, a privilege previously denied for over two years. Scabies and other skin diseases have spread among detainees amid overcrowding and poor sanitation, according to Zalabani. Zalabani is most concerned about raids on prison cells, beatings of children, and the practice of tightly restraining them for hours at a time.

Legal and Advocacy Context

In September 2025, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Israeli Prison Service failed to provide adequate food to Palestinian prisoners. The prison service, overseen by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has rejected allegations of starvation. Palestinian prisoner advocacy organisations report approximately 1,900 arrests of Palestinian children from the occupied West Bank since October 2023. The number of children detained from the Gaza Strip remains unclear due to enforced disappearances and difficulty accessing information.