Young Palestinians in Israeli jails
Experts warn about the effects of prison and torture on children and teenagers.
It is estimated that around 9,000 Palestinians are detained every year by Israel.
According to human-rights groups, up to 700 teenagers and children were detained last year alone.
More than 270 Palestinians under the age of 18, are currently held in Israeli prisons.
Little is known about the long-term effect of detention on Palestinian children. But with over 760,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel since 1967, experts say detention is a source of trans-generational trauma in Palestine – one that is passed on and bound to repeat so long as the occupation persists.
Prisoners tend to have symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome, experts say, and they warn that young detainees suffer more than adults from this experience, even if they are not tortured.
Child and teenage prisoners account for almost 20 per cent of Palestinian patients at the only torture victim centre in the territories.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh reports from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.