Israel nabbed 100s of kids in 2015: Rights group

The majority of the Palestinians arrested by Israeli regime forces in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in 2015 were children, among them minors under the age of 14, says a prisoner’s rights group.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies said in a report on Sunday that the Tel Aviv regime detained over 1,900 Palestinians in 2015. Two-thirds of the detainees, it said, were minors, 65 of whom were put under house arrest.

A spokesman for the group, Riyad al-Ashqar, denounced the regime’s use of house arrests against the Palestinian children who are under the age of 14. He said the regime “turns the child’s house itself to a prison and the family members to wardens.”

In November, Israel approved a bill that would allow custodial sentences for minors from 12 years of age for committing “nationalistically-motivated” crimes. The regime also fines the families of children convicted of such crimes.

In October 2015, the number of Palestinian children in Israeli custody reached 307. The number had been 155 at the end of August last year.

The Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP), another rights group, said Israeli detention centers have so far failed to meet international standards. The Palestinian child detainees are denied family visitations and even forced into solitary confinement.

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