Queen Rania calls for action on detained children at UN meeting in New York
Queen Rania of Jordan called for immediate international action to protect children held in military detention in Palestine.
She spoke in New York at United Nations Headquarters during the General Assembly's high-level week. She attended with her husband, King Abdullah II of Jordan. Hello! Magazine
The session was listed by the UN as "Childhood in Custody: High-Level Dialogue on Palestinian Children in Military Detention". The transcript page records it as taking place on 22 September at 15:00, with a runtime of 01:05:19. UN Transcripts
It was organised by Save the Children International, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Ireland and the State of Palestine. It was co-sponsored by the Jordanian, Irish, Palestinian, Spanish and South African governments.
Queen Rania took part alongside the Taoiseach, Ireland's prime minister, and representatives from Save the Children and the State of Palestine. The focus was children from the occupied Palestinian territory held under Israel's military detention system.
The figures put to the meeting were stark. An estimated 500 to 700 children from the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, were detained each year before October 2023. The UN Secretary-General's report on children and armed conflict verified 981 Palestinian children detained by Israeli forces in 2025.
As of 31 December 2025, 180 Palestinian children were held in administrative detention, a system that allows detention without charge or trial. As of May 2026, at least 347 Palestinian children were held in Israeli military detention on security-related charges. That was described as the highest number in eight years. Further children transferred from Gaza were held under the "unlawful combatant" designation, a separate wartime detention category.
Save the Children and partners said they had gathered testimony from more than 165 formerly detained children. The organisation's global chief executive described the session as the first event during High-Level Week focused on detention of children in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Other European royals were present for the wider assembly. Queen Mathilde of Belgium and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands sat side-by-side at the conference.
Queen Rania has long worked on children's issues. She is an Eminent Advocate for UNICEF, the UN children's agency, and Honorary Chairperson for the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative, a partnership promoting schooling for girls.
For her appearance she wore a black suit with a white blouse, off-white pointed-toe stilettos and a matching small handbag.
