When Palestinian prisoners were released last week, Israel imposed a ban on celebrations for their family members. “Demonstrations of joy,” said National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, “are tantamount to supporting terrorism.”

Israel has and has portrayed imprisoned Palestinians as “terrorists.” many of the prisoners were mistreated.

But of the 300 Palestinian women and children Israel has identified for possible release as part of the humanitarian standoff between Israel and Hamas, nearly 80 percent have not even been formally charged.

The overwhelming majority of Palestinian prisoners were arrested under a quasi-judicial procedure called administrative detention, in which Palestinians are initially sentenced to six months in prison. Their detention can then be repeatedly extended indefinitely without charge or trial.

Most Palestinians, including children, are tried in military courts and given long prison sentences in so-called sham military trials because in many cases Palestinians are deprived of a defense attorney and due process. In comparison, Israeli citizens are tried in civilian courts, highlighting the two-tier justice system that discriminates against Palestinians.

Here’s a look at the treatment of Palestinian prisoners, how Israel has weaponized administrative detention, and why many Palestinians are forced to turn to Israeli military courts.

Who is on the list?

The vast majority of Palestinians – 233 of the 300 prisoners – on Israel’s release list were not formally charged and were held as administrative detainees. The overwhelming majority of them are children. The youngest is 14.

Almost three quarters of them come from the occupied West Bank, where there has been a crisis Wave of arrests since Israel’s war against Gaza began on October 7th. The West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem had already seen a rise in Israeli attacks this year before the war.

The prisoner with the longest sentence among the 300 was held for 102 months, or eight and a half years. The youngest prisoner was arrested two months ago.

Almost half of the prisoners have no connection to a Palestinian political or armed group. Others are believed to be affiliated with Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

What are the effects of administrative detention?

Prisoners may be held in administrative detention indefinitely. During this period, which can extend for years, prisoners, their families and their lawyers may remain in the dark about what the prisoner is accused of and what evidence exists against them.

Israel has arrested an estimated one million Palestinians since it occupied East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in 1967, according to a United Nations report released last year. A significant number of them are believed to be administrative prisoners.

Israel has increased the number of arrests since the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7, doubling the number of Palestinians detained to over 10,000 before releasing some of them. Hamas militants killed at least 1,200 people in their attack. Israel’s subsequent attack on Gaza killed nearly 15,000 people, most of them women and children.

How does the Israeli military justice system work in the occupied territories?

The Oslo Accords of the 1990s led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA), but a Palestinian-led semi-government has not ended Israel’s military justice system. Israel still directly controls much of the West Bank and has allowed illegal settlements to be built on Palestinian land.

The PA was criticized for this Security coordination with Israel, under which it is obliged to exchange information about Palestinian armed groups. There is a criminal code and a judiciary, but the three million Palestinians in the occupied territories could easily fall under the jurisdiction of the Israeli military courts if they are accused of endangering Israeli security. This could include any activity linked to the hundreds of Palestinian organizations that Israel has deemed illegal over the decades.

When charges are brought, they regularly refer to “terrorist” activities, which may include actions against Israeli soldiers or settlers, and “incitement,” which includes influencing public opinion. Traffic violations or staying illegally in Israel to work also land Palestinians in the military justice system, which has a conviction rate of 99 percent.

Unlike Palestinians, Israeli settlers arrested in the West Bank are tried in civilian courts within Israel. This practice has actually created two legal systems that human rights groups have called out discriminatory and a form of “apartheid”.

How are Palestinians treated in prison?

Some of the Palestinian prisoners who were released As part of the ceasefire, they said they were beaten and humiliated by Israeli soldiers before being released.

After the war began, the beatings became more severe and frequent, but statements from prisoners over the decades indicate a long-standing pattern of beatings, torture and mistreatment of prisoners.

Since the start of the war, human rights groups have reported that the Israeli prison service has also significantly restricted water, food, medical care and community amenities for prisoners, and limited or stopped visits from family members and lawyers.

This means that Palestinian prisoners have effectively lost some of the limited privileges they had earned through years of election campaigns and hunger strikes in what are now also severely overcrowded prisons.

How does Israel treat its underage inmates?

Hundreds of children, some as young as nine, have been detained by Israeli forces in what many say is a violation the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children fare no better than adults in Israeli prisons, and a number of abuses against them have been documented.

Human rights group Save the Children said in a July report that 86 percent of children in Israeli custody were beaten, 69 percent were strip-searched and 42 percent were injured when arrested. They suffered, among other things, gunshot wounds and broken bones.

Some children have reported violence of a sexual nature and some are being taken to court or between detention centers in small cages, the London-based children’s rights organization said.

According to the group, Palestinian children are “the only children in the world who are systematically persecuted in military courts,” and an estimated 10,000 have been held in Israel’s military detention system over the past 20 years.