See pictures of Israel’s youngest prisoner reunited with her family after being freed from jail. The 12-year-old Palestinian girl, named Dima al-Wawi, had been imprisoned over an alleged stabbing attack.
"I am happy to be out. Prison is bad," al-Wawi was quoted by the Associated Press as saying on Sunday. "During my time in prison I missed my classmates and my friends and family."
The number of Palestinian minors being held in Israeli prisons has seen a sharp rise since the beginning of what observers call the third Palestinian Intifada (uprising) in last October.
According to a report published by Haaretz on Sunday, the number of minors in Israeli custody grew from 170 in September 2015 to 438 in January 2016.
Israelis regularly interrogate Palestinian children in the absence of a parent, hence infringing upon international laws that demand special protection for detained kids, some rights group say.