Israeli occupation forces detained four Palestinian children in Hebron, then held a 13-year-old boy overnight, before beating him and abandoning him far from home.

The incident, which occurred on 5 December 2018, was reported by Israeli human rights NGO B’Tselem yesterday.

On the afternoon of the day in question, Palestinian children were throwing stones at Israeli occupation forces near one of Hebron’s checkpoints.

In video footage released by the NGO, Israeli Border Police officers can be seen seizing four children, including two under the age of 12.

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One child, 13-year-old ‘Abed Al-Jalil Murar, was taken to the police station in Kiryat Arba settlement, and “interrogated without the presence of his parents or another adult on his behalf”. There he made and signed a confession.

The boy was then taken to a detention centre at Etzion settlement police station, where he spent the night alone in a cell “without being given food or drink”.

The next day, the boy was released on bail by a military court, after which soldiers took ‘Abed Al-Jalil to the military tower at the entrance to Al-‘Orub refugee camp.

At the entrance to the camp “the soldiers removed the handcuffs from his hands and put him down from the jeep”, B’Tselem recounted.

While they were doing this, one of the soldiers hit the boy on the head with his fist and he fell to the ground.

“The soldiers left ‘Abed Al-Jalilon the ground and drove off.”

According to B’Tselem, “this is not the first time that armed police officers have illegally detained children below the age of criminal liability without informing their parents.”

“A 13-year-old boy was detained for over 24 hours completely on his own, without anyone defending his rights, explaining what was going to happen, or even allowing him to eat and drink.”

“The detention in the road; the hours of waiting at the police station; the night spend alone in a cell; the military judge hearing his case; and finally his violent dumping on his own, far from his home – all these for part of the approach shared by the Israeli authorities that Palestinian minors are entitled to nothing, not even to the basic rights they deserve by law as children,” B’Tselem added.

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