Yesterday Max Blumenthal reported on Israel’s arrest in East Jerusalem of relatives of Tariq Abu Khdeir, the Palestinian-American boy who was beaten in Jerusalem two weeks ago. The arrests came up during yesterday’s State Department briefing, by Jen Psaki, who said the U.S. was “deeply concerned” about the detention of family members without charge.

This dialogue begins at about 56:00

Matt Lee: And lastly, are you aware of reports that family members of the boy who was killed, the Palestinian teenager who was killed and apparently set on fire, who was the cousin of the American citizen who was beaten up, that they have been detained by Israelis? And if you are aware, do you have anything to say about this? MS. PSAKI: Well, we are aware. Our Consulate General in Jerusalem has been following this incident closely. We understand that several family members were arrested without charges and placed in detention. As you know, by – as you know, we were shocked by the treatment of Tariq and strongly condemned any excessive use of force. We are deeply concerned about this latest development and reports and are closely tracking them on the ground. QUESTION: Can I ask: What is the cause of your deep concern about these detentions? MS. PSAKI: The arrests of family members without charges and the placement of them in detention, and certainly the backdrop here is of the treatment of their family member. QUESTION: But – no, no. But have you – I mean, it is possible, is it not, that the Israelis have good reason to arrest these people. Right? MS. PSAKI: Well, there were no charges filed. QUESTION: Okay. So that’s the reason for your – have you made your deep concern clear directly to the Israelis? MS. PSAKI: That is a good question. I’m happy to check on that. I know there – I believe we have, but let me make absolutely sure. QUESTION: But not at the – it didn’t come up in the conversation between Secretary Kerry and Prime Minister Netanyahu, right? It would be — MS. PSAKI: Let me double-check for you, Matt, and just make sure. QUESTION: Do you know – and do you have any details about when this happened? MS. PSAKI: It was over the last couple of days. I don’t have a specific day for you, but we can get that as well. QUESTION: Do you have a specific number of how many members of the family? MS. PSAKI: I don’t have more information, but we can ascertain to get that. QUESTION: All right. And then — QUESTION: Jen — QUESTION: — hold on a second – then can I ask: Why has the U.S. taken such – the Consulate General taken such a particular interest in this? Are any of them Americans? I – the cousin was, clearly, but is there some kind of U.S. – other than your – just your basic interest in human rights and rule of law, due process, et cetera, is there some kind of special American interest in this family? MS. PSAKI: I’m not aware, though I can check on this with the group of questions that any of them are American citizens. We’ll check. But obviously we were deeply shocked by the treatment of their young family member. And certainly we’ve taken an interest in — QUESTION: The one who was an American? MS. PSAKI: Correct. QUESTION: Right. MS. PSAKI: We’ve taken an interest in this case and certainly the treatment of family members would be of interest to our team on the ground. QUESTION: So is it a – so the interest lies in the fact that these are relatives of the American citizen who was beaten up, or the interest lies because these are relatives of the Palestinian teenager who was killed? MS. PSAKI: Well, I think I don’t want to pick one or the other. I think, Matt, that obviously we’ve seen the suffering that this family has gone through. Many of our officials have been able to get to know the family members, and certainly we’ve taken an interest. QUESTION: See, I mean – following on that very point, I mean, most Palestinians that are arrested by the Israelis are arrested without charges. In fact, they languish year after year under administrative detention for a very, very long time. So why this particular case? MS. PSAKI: I think I just answered that question, Said. Do you have another question? QUESTION: I have plenty, but — MS. PSAKI: Go ahead. QUESTION: — I think I’ll refrain.

The briefing was also interesting for discussion of Turkish P.M. Erdogan’s statement that Israel is conducting “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. And a reporter asking whether the killings of 300 Palestinians, many of them civilians, isn’t a genocide. At 1 hour in.