The lost rights of Palestinian captives’ children

On the twentieth anniversary of the martyrdom of Palestinian child, Mohammad al-Dara, on September 30, 2000, which has been marked in the Iranian calendar as day of solidarity and sympathy day with Palestinian children and the youth, Qodsna quoted Wafa Information Center reported that “From 1966 to June 2020, nearly one million Palestinians, including 50,000 children under the age of 18, were detained by the Zionist regime”.  

According to international law, a person under the age of 18 is a child and has children's rights).

On 30 September 2000, 11-year-old Muhammad Al-Durrah was shot and martyred by Zionist troops in the Gaza Strip. His father Jamal, who tried to shield his son from a hail of bullets, was wounded in the incident. The boy’s killers have never been brought to justice.

Two days earlier, on 28 September, the then leader of the Israeli opposition Ariel Sharon (1928-2014), marched into the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa Mosque with a number of right-wing Israeli officials protected by 2,000 military policemen. Palestinian Muslims inside Al-Aqsa Mosque protested at his provocative visit.

The images of the brutal police response to the demonstration cause outrage among Palestinians everywhere and led to the Aqsa Intifada. The uprising lasted until February 2005 and almost 5,000 Palestinians were martyred, including just under 1,000 children.

Palestinian children are in danger for seven decades.

According to the reports, there are currently 166 Palestinian children, including girls and boys in Zionist regime’s prisons.

According to the Palestinian Committee for Prisoners and Ex-prisoners Affairs, these Palestinian children, like other Palestinian prisoners of war, are subjected to the most severe forms of torture and cruelty, as well as to Zionist inhumane behavior that violates their rights.

 This act of the Zionists has completely destroyed the future of Palestinian children and completely is in contradiction with international law and children's rights in international conventions.

Zionist regime also violates the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, especially Article 16, which stipulates that children are not being held illegally.  

Zionist regime has deprived Palestinian captive children of their basic rights under international law. These international laws provide for the fundamental rights of children, regardless of religion, ethnicity or nationality.