Lawyer for the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Hiba Masalha, has declared that the number of Palestinian children in Israeli jails has increased to 250.
The reason behind the increase is due to the recent arrest campaign carried in the West Bank by the Israeli army, under the pretext of searching for three missing Israeli settlers, according to the PNN.
Masalha noted that soldiers beat the children during the arrests, which is considered a crime under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The children are also taken from their homes in the middle of the night, and this is considered to be kidnapping.
Via AIC: An Israeli soldier grabs and beats a sobbing 9 year old Palestinian child in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. Footage captured by a Palestinian resident of Hebron, using a camera supplied by the human rights organization B’Tselem.
Two children have given statements to their lawyers regarding how the Israeli army arrested them, the PNN reports:
Talal Khalid Safi, age 16, who was arrested last month, said to his lawyer that the Israeli soldiers hit him in his stomach, in the back and in his face, causing bleeding in his nose and mouth as he was being detained in the Hawara interrogation center.
Islam Mahmud Hymenia, 17, who was arrested last December, told his lawyer that Israeli soldiers took him from his home and violently beat him with their weapons in the jeep, until he finally lost consciousness.
More than 800,000 Palestinians, including children, have been kidnapped and imprisoned by Israel since the 1967 occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while at least 5,000 Palestinians are currently held by Israel. See IMEMC Special Report: “800,000 Palestinians Imprisoned By Israel Since 1967”
Related link: 540 Palestinians Kidnapped By The Army In Less Than Two Weeks
