- Five Palestinian children were apprehended by Israeli soldiers in southern Hebron on Wednesday.
- The young boys were then taken to a police station where they were detained for several hours.
- Three of the children. between eight and 11 years old is under the age of criminal liability in Israel.
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A video has emerged of five Palestinian children arrested near Israeli soldiers by Israeli soldiers on Wednesday afternoon.
The children, aged between eight and 13, were arrested after settlers from the settlement of Havat Maon in southern Hebron reported themselves to a military patrol.
—Joshua Zitser (@mrjoshz) 12 March 2021
In the video of the incident, which was initially shared by the non-profit organization B’Tselem, the young boys are escorted in soldiers of the Israeli army in a vehicle. One of the children can be seen crying and struggling while an armed soldier picks him up in the van. Another holds hands with one of the soldiers.
It’s just kids, what is it? ‘One can hear an adult shouting at the soldiers.
The young boys are accused of trying to steal parrots from a private property in an Israeli settlement, an Israeli police spokesman told Insider.
Havat Maon is one of the many settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law and are not authorized by the Israeli government. There were several incidents in the vicinity of Palestinian children who were harassed by Israeli settlers while on their way to school.
According to the child advocate, armed military personnel took the children to the settlement and questioned them about their alleged attempted theft.
“They were taken to the illegal outpost of Havat Maon, where the soldiers were trying to get a confession from them, which is illegal,” their lawyer, Gaby Lasky, told Insider.
Both the Israeli police and the Israeli army dispute this claim and insist that the young boys be taken to a police station immediately.
A Palestinian child is escorted by an Israeli soldier to a police vehicle on the outskirts of Havat Maon in the West Bank on March 10, 2021.
Nasser Nawaj’ah / B’Tselem
After being transferred to the Kiryat Arba police station, the young boys were detained for several hours. Their parents, despite multiple efforts, were unable to contact or locate their children, according to Lasky.
Israeli officials claim that the detention was aimed at reuniting them with their families. An IDF spokesman told Insider the boys had been transferred to a police facility for ‘further processing’ and to ‘locate their parents’.
This reflects the Israeli police force. “The minors were taken to police for several hours who acted to locate their parents living in Palestinian territory,” the spokesman told Insider.
Lasky, who represents the five boys, said the detention of the boys was criminal.
“Three of the children were under the criminal age of responsibility, so they can not detain them and take them to the police station or anywhere else. It is completely illegal,” she said.
The age of criminal responsibility in Israel is 12. Three of the boys are between eight and 11 years old. The two older boys are 12 and 13 and are old enough to be charged with a crime.
The lawyer also believes that the use of military force on the children was unfounded. “The way the kids were taken and made to kneel on their knees is not only unnecessary, but is also completely illegal,” Lasky told Insider.
Israeli lawyer Gaby Lasky at a court in Jerusalem on September 16, 2018.
AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Image
Lasky lodged a complaint with the Attorney General of the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Israeli police.
According to their lawyer, all five boys were initially summoned for further questioning. While the two older boys will be questioned Sunday, the summons of the three younger children was canceled after an objection by their lawyer, Lasky told Insider.
The human rights organization B’Tselem, whose activists were at the scene, said the incident shed light on the reality of life under occupation.
“It’s part of the occupation’s routine for incidents like this, as absurd as it is, to take place,” B’Tselem spokeswoman Amit Gilutz told Insider. “This is a reflection of the absolute disregard of the Israeli authorities for the well-being of Palestinians.”
“No matter what these children did in the vicinity of the settlements,” he added, “they should not have been arrested by military force.”