Israel is holding nearly 800 Palestinians, including seven children, without trial or charges, the highest number in almost 15 years, according to rights groups and United Nations officials who have claimed the practice is unlawful and “amounts to serious and degrading treatment”.
Israeli rights group HaMoked, which regularly gathers figures from Israeli prisons, told The Independent that Israel was holding 798 Palestinians in administrative detention, the highest number since May 2008.
Among the prisoners – who can be held indefinitely without trial, sometimes for years – are two women and seven minors, the youngest aged just 16, the group added.