A number of United Nations agencies called for the immediate release of a seriously ill Palestinian child detained in Israel.
Israel has extended the detention of Amal Nakhleh until May 18 without charge or trial. He was 17 years old when Israel arrested him and has been in administrative detention for more than a year.
“Neither Amal nor his lawyers or family have been informed of the reasons for his arrest and detention,” read a joint statement by the UNICEF, UNRWA and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
“Amal suffers from a severe autoimmune disease that requires continuous medical treatment and monitoring,” it added.
“We call for Amal’s immediate and unconditional release from detention in line with international human rights law.”
It pointed out that Amal’s case is one of the most prolonged cases in which a Palestinian child has been detained without charge or trial. It is however not an isolated case.
“Currently, at least another three Palestinians are in administrative detention who were under the age of 18 when they were first detained,” the agencies stressed.
The statement further echoed calls of the UN Secretary-General, who has been urging Israel every year since 2015 in his Report on Children and Armed Conflict, to end the administrative detention of children.
This practice deprives children of their liberty and must immediately end, the statement concluded.
