Al-Watan: Suffering of Palestinian Children Continues as Occupation Continues

Doha, April 06 (QNA) - Al-Watan newspaper said in its editorial Wednesday that the anniversary of the Palestinian Child Day passed Tuesday, while their suffering continues with the continuation of the occupation, like adults, where Palestinian human rights data indicate dozens of victims of Israeli bullets, and hundreds of detainees male and females under the age of 18. The newspaper pointed out that Palestinian law defines the child as every human being under the age of 18, a definition in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Data from the Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP), indicates that during 2021-2022, 83 children were killed, the paper said, adding that during the current year alone, the occupying forces killed five children in the West Bank, and last year witnessed the death of 78 children, including 61 in the Gaza Strip, where most of them died during the May aggression, and 17 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Al-Watan said that Palestinian children are subjected to various operations of oppression and abuse, and in the prisons of the occupation there are about 160 children, who are subjected to military courts that lack the conditions and standards of fair courts, in addition to what they are exposed to in terms of torture, ill-treatment, and physical violence during detention, transfer and interrogation. According to data published by the Palestinian Authority's Detainees Affairs Commission, Israel has arrested more than 50,000 Palestinian children (male and female) since the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967, the paper underlined, noting that the Commission's data indicated that about 1,300 boys and girls were arrested in 2021, and nearly 200 in 2022. Al-Watan concluded by saying that all of this is happening under the eyes of the world, without the international community making any effort whatsoever to stop these crimes and work to prevent their recurrence, and this can only be done by pushing for a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause, enabling the Palestinian people to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, and to force Tel Aviv to implement the resolutions of international legitimacy. (QNA)