IDF arrests mentally ill 12-year-old Palestinian boy for throwing stones
Military spokesman says boy was released minutes after detention; video filmed by NGO shows settlers cheering as he is arrested.
Israel Defense Forces troops were dispatched on Sunday to Hebron's Jabal Juhar neighborhood following reports about a stone-throwing incident. The soldiers who arrived on the scene arrested two Palestinians suspected of involvement in the incident; one of the suspects was a mentally ill 12-year-old boy. Under Israeli law, the boy cannot be held criminally responsible due to his age.
A video documenting the boy's arrest was released on Monday night by B'Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. It shows the soldiers blindfolding and cuffing the boy and forcing him into their vehicle.
Residents of the neighborhood tried to alert the soldiers to the boy's mental state and asked them to release him, but the soldiers asked them not to intervene and warned them not to approach the vehicle. The video also shows that while the IDF soldiers were restraining the minor, settlers in the vicinity cheered them on and encouraged them to arrest him.
In the video, captured by B'Tselem volunteer Samiah Da'ana from the window of his home in the neighborhood, an Israeli girl can be heard cheering the soldiers, with other settlers joining in with shouts of "Damn them all," "Mohammed is a pig" and "Death to Arabs." Some of the settlers are also heard taunting the young boy with cries of "Until now, you've been acting like a man; look where you are hiding now, you coward."
The boy's father arrived on the scene some 15 minutes later and explained to the soldiers that his son suffers from a mental illness and is unable to speak. Following the exchange, the soldiers released the boy.
The IDF Spokesman's Office issued the following statement: "A preliminary investigation indicates that in the case in question, an IDF force was dispatched to apprehend two stone-throwers in Hebron. The two were caught in the act of throwing stones at the adjacent settlement.
"The one, an adult out on parole, was jailed after his capture; the other, who can be seen in the video, was released just minutes after he was apprehended. The particulars of the incident will be investigated."
