Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese (2023)

INTRODUCTION

1. In her 2023 report to the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur exposed how Israel has turned the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) into an open-air prison, where Palestinians are constantly confined, subjected to surveillance and punished. This has aided Israel's illegal dispossessing Palestinians of their lands and furthered their forced displacement. Children make up almost half of the Palestinian population in this coercive environment, while 30 percent of the population under occupation is under the age of 15.

2. This report focuses on the rights of Palestinian children and the meaning of life under Israel’s ‘forever occupation.’ Despite the legal framework applicable to them, Palestinian children are simultaneously hypervisible in terms of the violence they experience and invisible in terms of their suffering. While Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are also responsible for violating children’s rights, this report examines the overarching impact of the Israeli occupation on children, in line with the Special Rapporteur’s mandate.

3. All children must be able to enjoy their childhood in a healthy, safe and nurturing environment, where human rights are both valued and safeguarded, regardless of identity, race, religion or background. That is the foundational premise of this report.

4. This report does not include reference to the crimes that have taken place since 7 October, as they unfolded while the report was being finalised. The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel is conducting an investigation and the Special Rapporteur will also dedicate further analysis to this umpteenth tragic turn in the history of the longest occupation in history.