“I Don’t Understand Why Israel Is Imprisoning Me Despite My Young Age”: Youngest Palestinian Prisoner Awaits Jail Time
“I will miss my mother, father, siblings, grandmother, family, friends, school, and my mother’s cooking,” said 14-year-old Ayham Salaimeh, just days before being transferred to an Israeli prison.
After spending a year and a half under house arrest in his family’s home in Ras al-Amoud, East Jerusalem, Ayham now faces an additional year of actual imprisonment. This harsh decision by Israeli authorities coincides with World Children’s Day, highlighting the stark disparity between global celebrations of child rights and the grim reality faced by Palestinian children.
A Lifetime of Struggle
Ayham and his older brother, Ahmed, along with their cousins, Mohammed and Mo’taz, were arrested in May 2023, accused of throwing stones at settlers who had taken over Palestinian homes in their neighborhood. While his relatives were immediately sentenced due to their age, Ayham, being under 14 at the time, was placed under house arrest.
On November 7, 2024, the Israeli Knesset passed a new law permitting the imprisonment of Palestinian children under 14, contravening international child rights standards. Despite appeals, Ayham’s family was ordered to surrender him to prison on December 1.
“Why Am I Imprisoned?”
“I still don’t understand why I am being jailed as a child,” Ayham told Anadolu Agency. “While other children play football, attend school, and enjoy time with their families, we, Palestinian children, are deprived of these basic joys.”
For Ayham’s father, Nawal Salaimeh, this decision is heartbreaking yet unsurprising under Israeli occupation. “I was a child when I was first imprisoned, and many of my family members have been arrested on fabricated charges. However, the current conditions in Israeli prisons are far worse than they used to be,” he said.
Nawal fears for his son’s well-being in custody. “Ayham is a small child, weighing only 30 kilograms. What will his condition be after a year in such harsh conditions? Will he survive?”
A Systematic Targeting of Palestinian Children
According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission, at least 270 Palestinian children are currently detained under severe and abusive conditions, primarily in Ofer and Megiddo prisons. Arrests of children across the occupied territories continue on an almost daily basis, with accusations ranging from stone-throwing to mere presence during protests.
Since October 27, 2023, when the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza began, over 11,700 Palestinians from the West Bank, including Jerusalem, have been detained. Thousands more remain unaccounted for in Gaza, where mass arrests target children, women, and even healthcare workers.
“Where is the World?”
The Salaimeh family, like many others, has lost faith in international human rights organizations. “Gaza is being annihilated, and hundreds of Palestinian children languish in prisons,” Nawal lamented. “Where are the human rights institutions? Where is the global community when it comes to Palestine, Jenin, Nablus, and Tulkarem?”
World Children’s Day serves as a poignant reminder of the rights Ayham and countless other Palestinian children are systematically denied. While the world celebrates childhood, these children are forced to endure unimaginable hardships under occupation and siege.