On April 17, every year, on the day of the Palestinian prisoner, it is commemorated to highlight the difficult situation that is held in Israeli prisons and their struggle for freedom against the continuous occupation of Israel of its lands.
The day marks the 1974 launch of Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi, the first Palestinian released in an exchange of prisoners with Israel. He was later designated to honor all Palestinian prisoners and highlight the continuous arrest of the Palestinians of Israel of the Palestinians and the violation of their rights.
There are currently almost 10,000 Palestinian heroes in Israeli prisons in Israel and the occupied territory, according to the Addameer prisoner rights group. For the Palestinians, they are political prisoners who must be released.
Or those in detention:
- 3,498 are heroes without charge or trial
- 400 are children
- 27 They are women
- 299 are fulfilling life imprisonment
Administrative detention, including women and children, can be held by the military for six -month renewable periods based on “secret evidence” that Neinder the detainee or your lawyer can see.
400 prison children – Ahmad Manasra case
Israel is the only country in the world that tries children in military courts, or denies their basic rights.
According to the defense of the Palestinian children, between 500 and 700 Palestinian children are arrested and processed in the Israeli military judicial system every year, some as young as 12.
The most common position is to throw stones, a punishable crime with military law for up to 20 years in prison.
Currently, 400 Palestinian children remain in Israeli prisons, most are in preventive detention and have not been convicted of any crime.
One of the cases of the most heartbreaking children’s prisoners is that of Ahmad Manasra, who was arrested at the age of 13, brutally interrogated and then sentenced.
Ahmad was with his cousin Hassan, who allegedly stabbed two Israeli settlers near an illegal Israeli settlement in Jerusalem is busy in 2015.
Hassan, who was 15 years old at that time, was shot dead by an Israeli civilian, while Ahmad was severely beaten by an Israeli mafia and hit by a car.
He suffered fractures to his skull and internal hemorrhage.
At that time, Israeli law declared that children under 14 could not be considered criminally responsible.
To avoid this, the Israeli authorities waited until Manasra turned 14 to sentence it. The law was changed in August 2016 to allow the prosecution of younger children.
Ahmad was accused of attempted murder and sentence to 12 years in prison. The sentence was reduced later to 9.5 years.
Ahmad has long suffered mental health problems. At the end of 2021, a psychiatrist of doctors without borders (MSF) was allowed to visit it and diagnosed with schizophrenia. This was the first time that an external doctor was allowed to see him.
On April 10, 2025, after spending more than nine years after bars, Ahmad was finally released.
Palestinian prisoners doubled since October 7
Since October 2023, when Hamas led an attack against southern Israel and Israel, then it is the war in Gaza, until April 2025, the number of Palestinian political prisoners doubled, which increased from 5,250 to almost 10000.
A released Palestinian, fifteen detainees
Since October 7, Israel has arrested about 30,000 Palestinians. Duration The exchanges of captains prisoners with Hamas, Israel, has released just over 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
That means that, for each person launched, another 15 were arrested.
Duration The high fire exchange more recently earlier this year, 739 Palestinians of Gaza were released, which are 15,000 that had been arrested. While he was at the occupied West Bank, 652 were released, but almost 14,500 have been arrested.
Exchange of prisoners of prisoners of Alto El Fuego
Duration The fire of almost two years earlier this year, Israel released 1,793 Palestinian political prisoners, while Hamas released 38 Israeli captives, including eight bodies.
The majority of those released were from Gaza, with 739 released-337 of North Gaza, 227 of the city of Gaza and 151 of Khan Younis, some of the toughest areas of the war. In the occupied West Bank, at least 652 prisoners were released, and most came from Ramallah (118), Hebron (111) and Nblus (79).
One million Palestinians detained since 1967
Israel’s detention policies have deeply affected Palestinian life for decades. According to the Palestinian Commission of Dettense and Ex-Deterious Affairs, since 1967, Israeli forces have arrested a million Palestinians, or approximately 20 percent of the Palestinian population. Statistically, this means that one in five Palestinians has been imprisoned at some point in his life.
For many families, it has become an inevitability trial. This systemic practice has fragmented communities, perpetuated trauma cycles and generated broad resentment.
As Israel’s trial campaign continues, many Palestinians fear that mass imprisonment is not only a byproduct of the occupation but also a deliberate control tool. For thousands currently after bars, freedom is still uncertain, as it has done for generations before them.
