An Israeli court on Wednesday will start the second session for trying three Egyptian minors from Sinai. The minors are accused of smuggling and illegally entering Israel. An official source at the Egyptian Consulate in Eilat said the embassy had intensified its efforts to persuade Israeli authorities to release the children, citing their young ages. The defendants include Salah Ahmed Abdallah Selim, 15; Mohamed Selim Selmy Eid, 15; and Fayez Abdel Hamid Abdallah Salama, 14. An official from the consulate had attended the first session on Sunday, which was postponed to Wednesday, the consulate source told Al-Masry Al-Youm. The consulate sent a delegate to meet with the minors and make sure they were not subjected to maltreatment, the source said. Sixteen Egyptian human rights groups called on Egypt's ruling military council to take the necessary measures to ensure the children's release. In a joint statement, they said that if the incident is verified, they will take legal action to defend the minors. The statement quoted Maan News, a Palestinian news agency, as saying the children were arrested a few meters away from the border, close to the Egyptian city of Rafah. But Israeli authorities arrested them instead of returning them, according to the agency. Translated from the Arabic Edition
