Sweeping Extension of Administrative Detention for Hilltop Youths

In an almost-unprecedented move, the IDF extended the administrative detention of several “hilltop youths” on Wednesday, in what appears to be a stepping up of the campaign against them.

The initial detention orders expired after six months, but now, the security establishment has taken the rare measure of extending them in a sweeping and indiscriminate manner.

The legal defense organization Honenu said that at least eight youths received reports of plans to extend their detention orders by an additional three to six months. Most of the recipients already received the new orders that include instructions to stay out of Yehudah and Shomron, nightly house arrests, and bans on contacting certain individuals.

Honenu says that administrative orders have almost never been extended past their original expiration dates, and certainly not so many orders. In addition, the group claims that the detainees have had more home visits over the past few months, to the point that police officers check on them every night or even multiple times per night.

Honenu lawyer Menashe Yado says that “The administrative orders are given without evidence and without a trial. They severely undermine the fundamental rights of their recipients and cut them off from their places of residence, education, work, and sometimes even families.

“Recently, we have seen a worsening in the treatment of those who receive such orders, as the system is completely sealed even when dealing with welfare and education, as well as minors’ rights and the recommendations of testing services. This is a selective enforcement against an entire population, which is invalid and causes difficult feelings among this population.”