# III Applicable legal framework

##### **13.**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>

**The Commission affirms that children are rights holders whose rights are enshrined in human rights instruments**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">Children are entitled to all the rights of human beings</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, as well as </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">rights held by them alone as children</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, including under </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, which entitles them to </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">special care, assistance and social protection, and under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span>**This heightened protection applies to all Palestinian children**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> under the occupation of Israel, as an occupying power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. This special status of children is </span><span style="background-color: rgb(236, 202, 250);">stipulated under international human rights law, international humanitarian law, international criminal law and customary international law</span>, which together recognise that persons under 18 have distinct needs and vulnerabilities that require additional safeguards in situations of armed conflict, occupation and law enforcement.

##### **18.**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">As an occupying power, Israel has extensive duties towards the protected civilian population, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">especially children</span>: it must, t<span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">o the fullest extent of the means available</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, ensure the provision of </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">adequate food and medical supplies</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, maintain </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">medical and hospital services</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">facilitate the work of relief organisations</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> to meet children’s needs. </span>

<p class="callout danger">**18.**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> It is prohibited from imposing collective penalties or other measures that result in widespread deprivation among children.</span></p>

##### **19.**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Internment or administrative detention of protected civilians should be an exceptional measure of last resort, permissible only when the security of the detaining power makes it “absolutely necessary”. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">This standard is even more restrictive when applied to children</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. In light of their dependency and developmental needs, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">the internment of children must be considered a highly exceptional measure</span>, justified only by<span style="background-color: rgb(236, 202, 250); white-space: pre-wrap;"> demonstrable, individualised, imperative security reasons</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> and never used as a tool of general deterrence, population control, retaliation or collective punishment. General security assertions, broad categories of suspected behaviour or assumptions based on association, family ties or place of residence cannot satisfy the strict necessity test for the internment of a child, and any doubt must be resolved in favour of non-detention of a child, in line with their best interest and do no harm.</span>

##### **21.**<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span>

Under international humanitarian law, t<span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184);">he dead, including children, must be respected and their remains treated with dignity</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. Parties to the conflict </span><span style="background-color: rgb(251, 238, 184); white-space: pre-wrap;">must facilitate recovery, identification and, wherever possible, return their remains to families </span>to enable burial in accordance with religious and cultural traditions and to permit relatives to mourn.

<table id="bkmrk--1"><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>[![israeli-attacks-resume-at-gaza-after-humanitarian-pause-1055620237.jpg](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/israeli-attacks-resume-at-gaza-after-humanitarian-pause-1055620237.jpg)](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/israeli-attacks-resume-at-gaza-after-humanitarian-pause-1055620237.jpg)

</td><td>[![20140729-ISRAEL-slide-XCSW-superJumbo-4071980675.jpg](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/20140729-israel-slide-xcsw-superjumbo-4071980675.jpg)](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/20140729-israel-slide-xcsw-superjumbo-4071980675.jpg)

</td><td>[![WafaImage-1-973823942.jpg](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/wafaimage-1-973823942.jpg)](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/wafaimage-1-973823942.jpg)

</td></tr><tr><td>[![gaza+child+bodies+afp.jpg-4054833624.jpg](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/gazachildbodiesafp-jpg-4054833624.jpg)](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/gazachildbodiesafp-jpg-4054833624.jpg)

</td><td>[![deir-al-balah-gaza-lifeless-bodies-of-two-toddlers-lie-among-others-after-bodies-of-the-3175086880.jpg](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/deir-al-balah-gaza-lifeless-bodies-of-two-toddlers-lie-among-others-after-bodies-of-the-3175086880.jpg)](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/deir-al-balah-gaza-lifeless-bodies-of-two-toddlers-lie-among-others-after-bodies-of-the-3175086880.jpg)

</td><td>[![graphic-content-family-members-and-hospital-staff-stand-around-the-bodies-of-seven-children-2311460222.jpg](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/graphic-content-family-members-and-hospital-staff-stand-around-the-bodies-of-seven-children-2311460222.jpg)](https://wiki.compclassnotes.com/uploads/images/gallery/2026-06/scaled-1680-/graphic-content-family-members-and-hospital-staff-stand-around-the-bodies-of-seven-children-2311460222.jpg)

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