Israeli forces have summoned a nine-year-old Palestinian child from the occupied Old City of Jerusalem al-Quds for interrogation, as the Tel Aviv regime mounts crackdowns in the area on Palestinians protesting the forced expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes in favor of hardline Israeli settler groups.
Amjad Abu Asab, head of Jerusalemite Detainees and Prisoners' Families Committee, said several Israeli intelligence forces broke into Uday al-Haddad’s home on Sunday afternoon, and handed him a summons for investigation at al-Qashla police station, Palestinian Arabic-language Ma’an news agency reported.
Palestinian activists and social media users soon took to the internet, and published a picture of smiling Uday while holding his official summons.
They criticized Israeli measures, and said the move falls within the regime's repressive acts. The activists said Israeli authorities are purposefully taking such steps in order to tighten the noose around Palestinians living in Jerusalem al-Quds.
“A child scares them, a(n) [incendiary] balloon scares them,” a user named Hamza Abu Omar tweeted.
Another user, Rezvan al-Akhras, posted a photo of the nine-year-old, writing, “The child's name is Uday al-Haddad. Occupation forces went to his house in occupied Jerusalem al-Quds today to give him a summons.”
هذا الطفل الفلسطيني اسمه عدي الحداد، اقتحمت قوات الاحتلال منزله في #القدس المحتلة اليوم من أجل تسليم استدعاء له!! pic.twitter.com/MG8yx5yXgb
— رضوان الأخرس (@rdooan) July 4, 2021
Another user called the Palestinian child a hero, and prayed that the smile stays stuck to his face.
Back on July 31, 2019, Israeli forces summoned an 8-year-old girl from the southern West Bank city of al-Khalil for interrogation.
Palestinian security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Palestine's official WAFA news agency that Israeli soldiers raided the home of Shadi Sadr at the time, and handed him a summons for his daughter, Malak, 8, to appear at an interrogation center for allegedly harassing the heavily-guarded Israeli settlers in the occupied part of the city.
Israeli forces had earlier summoned two Palestinian children from the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds neighborhood of al-Issawiya after charging them with throwing stones at Israeli military vehicles.
On July 29 the same year, a large number of police forces stormed the neighborhood in order to capture Mohammad Rabiaa Elayyan. They chased the child and when members from his family showed up, they were handed a warrant ordering them to bring him to the Israeli police station on Salaheddine Street for interrogation.
Mohammad and his father Rabiaa went to the police station the following day, accompanied by fellow residents of Issawiya, who came to protest the interrogation warrant.
WAFA news agency reported back then that Rabiaa was briefly interrogated by Israeli police, and released shortly thereafter.
Additionally, Israeli police summoned Palestinian child Qais Firas Obaid and his father – residents of Issawiya – for interrogation, claiming that the young boy had thrown stones at Israeli soldiers. They both appeared in an Israeli police station for interrogation.