Israelis protest, union calls strike after six more captives killed in Gaza
Thousands of Israelis have hit the streets demanding a ceasefire deal and Israel’s main labour union has called for a strike after six more captives were found dead in Gaza. Scuffles between the protesters and security forces were reported on Sunday night in one of the largest anti-government demonstrations in Israel since the Gaza war began nearly 11 months ago. The protesters chanted “Now! Now!” and demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a ceasefire with Palestinian group Hamas to bring the remaining captives home. Many Israelis blocked roads in Tel Aviv and demonstrated outside Netanyahu’s office in West Jerusalem. Relatives and supporters of Israelis taken captive in Gaza protest outside PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in West Jerusalem [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP] In a statement, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of captives held in Gaza, said the death of the six hostages was the direct result of Netanyahu’s failure to secure a deal to halt the fighting and bring their loved ones home. “They were all murdered in the last few days, after surviving almost 11 months of abuse, torture and starvation in Hamas captivity,” the forum said. Gil Dickmann, a cousin of Carmel Gat, whose body was among those returned, urged Israelis to put more pressure on their government. “Take to the streets and shut down the country until everyone returns. They can still be saved,” Dickmann posted on X. Israelis protest outside the prime minister’s office in West Jerusalem [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP] Gideon Levy, a columnist with Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu has been defending the right-wing parties in his government that are against any concessions to Hamas. “They [the parties] could not care less about the hostages,” he said. Levy stressed that within Netanyahu’s Likud Party, the largest group in the government, Netanyahu wields a lot of power and the party supports him. “Therefore the challenges from within the government are very limited,” he said. “The real, only possible, challenge would be the streets, but … it is too early to judge.” Union calls for general strike Meanwhile, in a first since October 7, Israel’s largest trades union federation, the Histadrut, has called for a general strike to pressure the government into signing a ceasefire deal. The union said Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main air transport hub, would be closed from 8am (05:00 GMT) on Monday, as it aimed to shut down or disrupt major sectors of Israel’s economy, including banking and healthcare. “A deal is more important than anything else,” said Histadrut chief Arnon Bar-David. “We are getting body bags instead of a deal.” He said he was backed by Israel’s main manufacturers and entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector. The alliance of some of the most powerful voices in Israel’s economy reflected the scale of public anger over the deaths of the six captives. A woman shouts slogans as thousands of Israelis protest in West Jerusalem [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP] Municipal services in Israel’s economic hub Tel Aviv will also be shut for part of Monday. The Manufacturers Association of Israel said it backed the strike and accused the government of failing in its “moral duty” to bring the captives back alive. “Without the return of the hostages, we will not be able to end the war, we will not be able to rehabilitate ourselves as a society and we will not be able to begin to rehabilitate the Israeli economy,” said association head Ron Tomer. Israeli opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid said he supported the strike. Truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas have dragged on for months, and many blame Netanyahu for failing to reach a deal. The Israeli military has killed at least 40,738 people and wounded 94,154 in its war on Gaza since October 7. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, with some 250 people seized by the group. Israel’s army has acknowledged the difficulty of rescuing dozens of remaining captives and said only a deal can bring a large-scale return. Adblock test (Why?)
Iraq to impose two-day curfew for first census in decades
Iraq has postponed censuses several times in almost three decades because of the security situation in the country. Iraq will impose a two-day curfew in November for the country’s first census in 27 years, officials said. “[The] curfew will be imposed in all provinces of Iraq on November 20 and 21 to conduct a population census,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement on Sunday. Local media reports said various measures have been approved for the process, including finalising coordination with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for the training of statistical staff. Also, the process will receive support from multiple ministries in providing classrooms and youth centres for staff training, reports added. Ravaged by decades of conflict and violence, Iraq has postponed a census several times, most notably in 2010 because of tensions over disputed territories. The last general census was held in 1997 in 15 Iraqi provinces – excluding the three northern provinces that make up the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. Iraq has regained some semblance of stability in recent years, despite sporadic violence and political turmoil. Current estimates put the country’s population at about 43 million. Iraqi authorities have partnered with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for the upcoming census. The initiative “plays a crucial role in equipping Iraq with accurate demographic information, facilitating effective policymaking, and promoting inclusive growth,” the agency has said. In the past, Iraq held a census every 10 years. A count could not be organised in 2007, when the country was embroiled in sectarian violence. Adblock test (Why?)
Is Brazil’s ban of social media platform X legal or political?
Site failed to comply with court order to block accounts linked to disinformation. Social media giant X has been banned in Brazil. It is the latest development in a months-long dispute between a Supreme Court judge and tech billionaire Elon Musk over censorship and disinformation. Brazil isn’t the first country to restrict access to the platform. The ban is reigniting a debate about the role social media plays in politics, freedom of speech and the spread of misinformation. How should social media giants be regulated? And is censorship being used as a political tool? Presenter: Dareen Abughaida Guests: Flora Rebello Arduini – Senior adviser on technology and human rights who focuses on disinformation and social media regulation Chris Stokel-Walker – Technology and digital culture journalist who hosts a podcast called Techtonic examining freedom of expression online Vinicius de Carvalho – Reader in Brazilian Studies at King’s College London and founder of the Observatory of Democracy in Latin America Adblock test (Why?)
Two Israelis killed in West Bank shooting amid deadly Jenin raids
Man and woman killed, third man critically injured in checkpoint shooting near Tarqumiyah, south of Hebron. At least two Israeli security personnel have been killed and another injured in a shooting at a checkpoint in Hebron, as Israel brought reinforcements in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin as part of its ongoing deadly raids. The shooting took place as the Israeli army continued its deadly assault on Jenin for a fifth consecutive day killing at least 24 Palestinians. Israel has killed more than 500 people as it intensified operations in the West Bank since it launched war on Gaza on October 7. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the past 11 months. Israeli national emergency service Magen David Adom said on Sunday that a man and a woman were killed and that a third man in his 50s was being transferred to hospital in critical condition following the attack near the Tarqumiyah checkpoint, south of Hebron. The Maariv newspaper reported that the three casualties were policemen working at the Hebron station who were shot at from a Palestinian car driving past. “Attacks so far have been centered around the northern West Bank and in the Jordan Valley area and now we see more of them coming from the south of the West Bank,” Al Jazeera’s Niba Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said. The Israeli army said it was conducting a raid on the Palestinian village of Idna close to the scene of the shooting. Akram Natsheh, a journalist in Hebron, told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces have closed off all roads leading in and out of the southern city while drones have started hovering above it. “There is nothing but tension and apprehension as Israeli forces are coming in and around the entire area – the situation is likely to escalate,” he said. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, six people, including three women, have been arrested in the Hebron area while raids have taken place in the nearby towns of Yatta and Halhul. Palestinians are stopped by Israeli security forces, during an Israeli raid in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank [Ammar Awad/Reuters] Meanwhile, Israeli siege on the city of Jenin has left Palestinians with no food, water, electricity and internet access. Local authorities said 70 percent of roads in the Jenin area have been bulldozed. Israeli forces stormed northern cities of Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas backed by tankers, drones and bulldozers as part of its largest operations in the West Bank since the second intifada in 2002. The Israeli army maintains that its intent is to target armed groups there to prevent future attacks. Gun battles have been reported in several locations and Hamas said at least 10 of its fighters, including a top commander, were killed this week. However, the trail of destruction the Israeli army left behind from areas it has withdrawn from, including Tulkarem and Tubas, have raised concerns among residents that the army’s intent is to extend the war in Gaza into the West Bank and to push Palestinians out of their homes. The Israeli army has severely destroyed infrastructures, water pipelines, and the electricity system. “Palestinians say the main goal of this military operation, the largest in more than two decades, is destruction,” Ibrahim said. “They say this is not a security-related necessity. It is to remind Palestinians of the cost they will incur if they choose to resist the Israeli military’s occupation,” she added. Adblock test (Why?)
Kicked out at 18 to live on the streets – a teenage migrant in Spain
Barcelona, Spain – The morning he turned 18, the Spanish children’s centre that Ilyas* had been sheltering in for two years since he arrived across the border from Morocco unceremoniously kicked him out. He wasn’t even permitted to stay for breakfast. Now that he was an adult, the authorities said; he was on his own. That was on January 30 this year and Ilyas – who doesn’t like to go by his real first name because of the shame he feels at being unemployed and homeless – left the centre for unaccompanied minors in the Spanish Ceuta enclave on the northern tip of Morocco and headed out in search of some other way to survive. The small amount of pocket money a social worker gave him before he left Ceuta’s migrant minors’ centre paid for the ferry to the Spanish mainland port of Algeciras. There, he was approached by local social workers who recommended he travel 98km (61 miles) up to the city of Jerez where a place in a facility for young migrants was vacant, they said. Six months later, Ilyas finally reached Barcelona where he still hopes to find work not just to support himself, but to help his sick father and family back home. But it hasn’t been an easy journey across Spain. One month after arriving in Jerez, the facility staff told him he could not stay any more. That led to living on the streets for several months while he scoured fruitlessly for job opportunities – nobody there wanted to employ a teenage boy from Morocco. Ilyas looks at his phone in search of shelters at Barcelona’s central bus station. He has no place to sleep tonight [Bianca Carrera/Al Jazeera] He finally decided to travel north to the more multicultural Barcelona in the hopes of finding a more sympathetic setting. But, now, Ilyas is broken after weeks of sleeping rough here too. “I am tired of life. I hope, for once, something works out well for me,” he sobs as he steels himself in the morning for another day of searching for somewhere he might have a shower and change his dirty clothes before he goes to ask social services for a place to sleep tonight. Ilyas has been sleeping rough for months now. Despite all of it, though, Ilyas says he does not regret leaving his hometown of Fnideq in Morocco, close to the Spanish border, when he was only 15. “Living on the street is better than living under my parents’ roof knowing that I have no future,” he says. Children and young men living in Morocco’s northern cities at the brink of economic collapse, he says, are born with a desire to migrate “inserted into their hearts”. Fnideq and other border towns have been suffering particularly since Spain closed the border during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and then never renewed the permissions for people to cross daily into Ceuta to work – the main source of local employment for thousands of people in his hometown. “From the second we are born, we know we need to leave this place.” ‘I am tired of life’. Ilyas has been sleeping rough on the streets of cities in Spain for months now. Despite his dire circumstances, he does not regret leaving Morocco [Bianca Carrera/Al Jazeera] ‘The worst night of my life’ At the same hour of the day, Ilyas’s mother, Aseya, 42, is partway through her shift as a cleaner at a restaurant by the sea in Fnideq. She is the holder of one of the remaining few jobs in the town. Aseya works 14 hours every day from 6am to 8pm for a salary of just 100 dirhams ($10.24). Ilyas’s four siblings – Boushra, 17, Zakarya, 12, Adam, 11, and Chaymaa, 8 – sit at one of the restaurant tables for hours waiting for their mother to finish work. They have little else to do. Boushra, the eldest since Ilyas left, takes care of the younger ones while Aseya is in the kitchen. Next year, she will finish high school and dreams of studying engineering in nearby Tetouan. It’s an unlikely dream, however, because of the cost it would involve. “Poor Ilyas,” her mother says softly as she washes dishes. “He used to see us, his parents, sometimes being able to work, sometimes not being able to work and put food on the table. So, he decided he had to do something to change this.” Aseya, Ilyas’s mother, works during the summer in the kitchen of a restaurant by the sea for 14 hours a day, earning 100 dirhams ($10) [Bianca Carrera/Al Jazeera] The day Ilyas left home – May 17, 2021 – Aseya was on one of her long shifts at work. That day marked a rapid deterioration in diplomatic relations between Spain and Morocco when, in a matter of hours, approximately 8,000 Moroccans – mostly men and boys, but some women as well – managed to cross from Morocco to Spain. Thousands of them swam along the coast to Ceuta and walked in off the beach. Ilyas was among the estimated 1,500 children who went. Madrid sent 200 extra police officers to help the 1,200 guarding the border with Morocco, but in the end, only 2,700 people were returned to Morocco. Juan Jesus Vivas, the president of the Spanish territory and a member of the right-wing main opposition People’s Party, described the arrivals as an “invasion”. The land border between the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and the Moroccan town of Fnideq. The number of people who cross early in the morning pales in comparison with the thousands who used to do so every day during the days of cross-border trade between the two sides, before the COVID-19 pandemic [Bianca Carrera/Al Jazeera] Ilyas had jumped at the opportunity when he heard so many were crossing to Spain. But his mother was devastated and furious when she discovered that he had left. “When he heard the news about the border, he went
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 919
As the war enters its 919th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Sunday, September 1, 2024. Fighting A Russian guided bomb attack killed two people and injured 10 more including children in a village in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. He added that two women were confirmed killed, including one who was pulled out from the rubble. Kharkiv has been facing multiple strikes since the Russian invasion began in February 2022. Russia’s state news agency TASS reports that a fire at Moscow’s oil refinery has been assigned the highest level of complexity. The warning came as Russia reported that it repelled drone attacks in several parts of the country. Moscow has reported that it thwarted a “massive” drone attack on western Russia and another targeting the capital. Bryansk regional governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said at least 26 drones were “identified and destroyed” by the Russian military, without causing any casualties or damage. The Baza Telegram news channel, which is close to Russia’s security services, reported loud blasts were heard near the Konakovo Power Station in the Tver region, one of the largest energy producers in central Russia. Tver Governor Igor Rudenya said five drones were destroyed over his region northwest of the capital. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said a Ukraine-launched drone was destroyed near the Moscow Oil Refinery, which is owned by Gazprom. There was no damage or threat to the refinery’s production process, he said. Mikhail Shuvalov, head of the Kashira city district, said on Telegram that Ukraine also attempted to strike the Kashira Power Plant in the Moscow region with three drones. Independent Russian media outlet Mediazona reported an estimated that more than 66,000 Russian military personnel have died during the war in Ukraine as of August 30. Mediazona said the list has gone up by more than 4,600 in the last four weeks, adding this was not a definitive figure since many soldiers’ deaths are not made public. Politics and diplomacy Ukraine was fully within its rights to launch its surprise offensive into Russia’s Kursk border region as an act of self-defence, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told German newspaper Die Welt. He stressed that Ukraine “has a right to defend itself” and that Russian soldiers, tanks and bases in Kursk “are legitimate targets under international law”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has increased pressure on the United States to let Kyiv strike military targets deep inside Russian territory after his representatives met senior US officials in Washington. In his nightly video address, he said that deadly strikes like the one in Kharkiv that killed six people could be averted only “by striking Russian military airfields, their bases, and the logistics of Russian terror.” Adblock test (Why?)
UNRWA head accuses Israel of buying Google ads to block donations to agency
Commissioner-general says Israeli government has undertaken a defamation campaign against the UN agency. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has accused the Israeli government of “buying ads on Google to block users from giving donations” to the agency. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X that Israel’s attempts to defame the agency both harm its reputation and put the lives of its staff at risk. “These deliberate efforts to spread misinformation should stop + be investigated,” Lazzarini wrote on Saturday, calling for more regulations for companies, including social media platforms, to combat disinformation and hate speech. The spread of misinformation & disinformation continues to be used as a weapon in the war in #Gaza. As part of its campaign to undermine & discredit @UNRWA, the Government of Israel has been buying ads on @Google to block users from giving donations to the Agency + undertake a… — Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) August 31, 2024 “The spread of misinformation & disinformation continues to be used as a weapon in the war in Gaza,” he wrote. Israel has campaigned for years against UNRWA, the main organisation delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory and providing services for Palestinian refugees in other countries since 1949, claiming it has connections with “terrorists” and lobbying for its closure. Last month, the UN denounced an Israeli government spokesperson after he described Lazzarini as a “terrorist sympathiser”. David Mencer had taken aim at Lazzarini in a videotaped speech, claiming the agency had been deeply infiltrated by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The UN said the comments were “reprehensible” and warned that they jeopardise Lazzarini’s safety. Earlier this year, Israel alleged that some of the agency’s staff participated in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel, leading more than a dozen international donors to suspend support. A UN-authorised independent review found that Israel had not provided credible evidence for its accusations and most donors have since reinstated funding. Israeli attacks in Gaza have frequently targeted UNRWA facilities, killing 212 of its staff members and hitting at least 70 percent of its schools, according to the organisation. At least 40,691 people have been killed and 94,060 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza, according to according to the Gaza Health Ministry. At least 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas-led attacks on Israel, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on official Israeli statistics. Adblock test (Why?)
First children in Gaza given polio vaccines a day before planned UN rollout
WHO says that the official larger vaccine rollout, which aims to reach 640,000 children, will begin on Sunday. Several children in Gaza have been given polio vaccines a day before a large-scale campaign to inoculate children against the virus and a planned pause in fighting in the besieged territory, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. Reporters from The Associated Press news agency saw roughly 10 infants receiving doses of vaccine in the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Saturday afternoon. “I was terrified and waiting for the vaccination to arrive and for everyone to receive it,” said Amal Shaheen, whose daughter received a dose. The WHO has confirmed that the official larger rollout of the vaccine will begin on Sunday. The three-day vaccination campaign aims to reach some 640,000 Palestinian children and comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month. Reporting from Deir-el Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the rollout was set to begin in central Gaza on Sunday. “The other days will be in Khan Younis and the last rollout will be in the northern part of the Strip,” Mahmoud added. A Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip [Mohammed Salem/Reuters] Israel has agreed to pause its military offensive in Gaza to allow health workers to administer the vaccines, UN officials have said. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Palestinian territory, said on Thursday that the three pauses will take place from 6am to 3pm (03:00 to 12:00 GMT) and last for three days each in different areas of Gaza, beginning on Sunday. The pauses are unrelated to the continuing ceasefire negotiations. “These are very momentary pauses from morning till mid-afternoon in each area. Considering the travel logistics for people in Gaza, this is not going to be easy for them to come and go safely,” Mukesh Kapila, a former WHO official, told Al Jazeera. He added that Palestinian parents will be concerned for the safety of their children as Israeli attacks on health facilities have continued. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has deepened during Israel’s assault on the territory that began after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, which killed at least 1,139 people. Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed at least 40,691 people in Gaza. On Saturday, the Palestinian Civil Defence agency in Gaza said at least three people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli attack in the vicinity of the al-Ahli Arab Hospital (Baptist Hospital). Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud said that in a previous attack at the hospital, hundreds of people were killed. “This is not the first time we’ve seen health facilities being directly and deliberately targeted by the Israeli military. This particular hospital was attacked in the initial weeks of this war, and hundreds of people were killed as they were in the courtyard of the hospital,” he said. The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to mediate a ceasefire in Gaza that would also see the remaining captives released. But the talks have repeatedly bogged down as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised “total victory” over Hamas and the Palestinian group has demanded a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Adblock test (Why?)
FIFA delays again review of Palestinian call to suspend Israel
The FIFA Council has delayed making a decision on a Palestinian bid to suspend Israel from international football until October. World football’s governing body FIFA has again delayed its review on a Palestinian bid to have Israel suspended from the international arena over its war on Gaza. FIFA said late on Friday it would now consider the Palestine Football Association’s (PFA) proposals against the Israel Football Association (IFA) in October. The PFA had submitted a proposal to suspend Israel in May, with FIFA ordering an urgent legal evaluation and promising to address it at an extraordinary meeting of its council in July. FIFA said last month the legal assessment would now be shared with its council by August 31. The Zurich-based body said it had now moved the assessment back to October. “FIFA has received the independent legal assessment of the Palestine Football Association’s proposals against Israel,” FIFA said. “This assessment will be sent to the FIFA Council to review in order that the subject can be discussed at its next meeting which will take place in October.” FIFA declined to give further details of the assessment, or when in October the meeting would take place. The Palestinian proposal accuses the IFA of complicity in violations of international law by the Israeli government, discrimination against Arab players, and inclusion in its league of clubs located in Palestinian territory. The IFA has rejected the allegations. The PFA has said at least 92 Palestinian players have been killed in the war, football infrastructure has been destroyed, its leagues suspended and its national team required to play World Cup qualifiers abroad. In its proposal, the PFA wanted FIFA to adopt “appropriate sanctions” against Israeli teams, including the national side and clubs At least 40,691 people have been killed and 94,060 wounded in since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the attacks Palestinian group Hamas led on October 7. Adblock test (Why?)
To be a Palestinian child, trying to survive Israeli jail
For 10 long months, 16-year-old Hussein* lived in the same clothes he was wearing when he was detained on October 3. His trousers were still bloodstained when he was released. On October 3, he was shot in the right thigh by Israeli forces in a watchtower near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. Hussein fell to the ground and saw two Israeli soldiers walking towards him. They beat him, kicking him in the head until he lost consciousness. He woke up three days later in a hospital, only to realise he had undergone surgery and was about to be taken to Ofer Prison. That was only days before Israel unleashed its continuing assault on Gaza and the last time he received any medical attention in detention. Can’t walk Hussein is one of hundreds of children Israel has detained over the years, a number that has multiplied dramatically since Israel began its assault on Gaza on October 7 and intensified its daily raids and mass arrest campaigns in the West Bank. He used to love going to the gym, challenging himself to lift more. He also loved playing football with his friends. Now, he limps, needs crutches to walk, and spends most of his day lying on a mattress. He will require joint implant surgery once he is done growing at the age of 18. “I’m really struggling … I can’t walk properly or catch up with any of my friends any more,” Hussein told Al Jazeera. Medical negligence is just one of the many forms of abuse, torture, humiliation and mistreatment Palestinian prisoners face in Israeli detention facilities, according to several rights groups. Along with UN agencies, they have shed light on the systematic abuse being committed. More than 700 arrests of children have been documented by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society since October 7. Currently, 250 of them remain in Israeli detention. “This number, especially compared to previous periods, is very high,” said Amani Sarahneh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society. Sarahneh added that children are abused and tortured the same way adult Palestinian prisoners are. “A Palestinian child will likely experience every abuse tactic you can think of,” she said, adding that Israeli forces have used them on Palestinian children for many years. Palestinian detainees are beaten, exposed to the cold for prolonged periods, and deprived of food, sleep, water and medical attention, a report by the UN Human Rights Office last month revealed. Children today live “in a constant state of hunger inside Israeli jails”, Sarhaneh said. ‘Just enough to keep us alive’ When Wassim left detention, he had vitamin, iron and calcium deficiencies. “The prison was … unlivable,” he said. “I would ask for medical treatment every single day, but … no doctors showed up, they didn’t even exist [in the prison],” Wassim said. The frequency and intensity of arrests after October 7 are ‘unprecedented’, Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says [File: Mussa Qawasma/Reuters] Food rations were also largely inadequate: Hussein said that he and the nine other prisoners in his cell would receive food in “a tiny plastic cup”. “It was just enough to keep us alive,” he said. “Most days, it was white rice … sometimes, it was undercooked. We’d eat, be full for five minutes, and then continue the rest of the day as if we were fasting. “We’d be begging for water, and end up drinking contaminated water from the bathroom. We had to … we had no choice,” he recalled. Israeli prison authorities shut down the canteen where prisoners could buy food and basic supplies and removed electrical devices including hotplates and kettles. Hussein’s father Omar* said he was worried sick about his son, especially after October 7. “After the war on Gaza, when we heard how bad things had gotten for Palestinians in Israeli jails, we were devastated,” Omar told Al Jazeera. “We cried … day and night,” he recalled. Omar had hoped Hussein would be released in November when Israel and Hamas reached a temporary ceasefire agreement that included the exchange of dozens of Palestinian prisoners with some of the captives held in Gaza. But despite his injury, Hussein was not released. “They deprived him of his childhood, and the rest of his life,” Omar said. According to Omar, a much quieter Hussein is now struggling to reintegrate back into his community. In crowds, he will often retreat into a corner and often wakes up with nightmares. ‘I just want to work and build a home’ In the town of al-Mughayyir, near Ramallah, another Palestinian boy was freed on August 8. Ahmed Abu Naim, now 18, has been in and out of Israeli detention facilities since he was 15 years old, held at times under administrative detention – being held for renewable six-month periods under the pretext of secret evidence. There has been an “unprecedented and terrifying spike” in the number of child administrative detainees, according to Palestinian Prisoner’s Society’s Serhaneh, who said at least 40 children are held under the widely criticised practice. When asked to compare being in detention before and after October 7, Abu Naim said, “The last time I was arrested, it was different; it was much worse than the other times.” The first time he was arrested, it was for two days. The second time, he was held for just more than a year. The third time, he spent six months in detention. He said his most recent experience was “1,000 times harder”. Ahmed Abu Naim has been in and out of Israeli detention facilities since he was 15 [Al Jazeera] “They didn’t treat us any different because we were minors,” Abu Naim, who recalled being severely beaten “so many times”, said. “We were even sprayed with gas sometimes,” he said. Wearing a baseball cap, he was trying to speak boldly, eager to appear both older and stronger. Abu Naim has been recovering from scabies, a skin disease that spread in the Megiddo prison, where he was held. “Hygiene standards were abysmal. We were not