RAMALLAH: On Friday Israeli military forces arrested a 13-year-old Palestinian boy in Hebron, according to Ahrar Center for Prisoner Studies and Human Rights. Saddam Hussein Al-Ja'abari was arrested near the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque, witnesses told his parents. Al-Ibrahimi is located in the old city of Hebron, the jurisdiction of which is divided between the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli military, and joint-control. A nearby settlement hosts some 500 illegal Israeli settlers. Ahrar added that no one from the Israeli military notified Al-Ja'abari's parents of his arrest, and that they searched for him for over 24 hours before they found witnesses able to inform them of the boy's arrest. Fouad Al-Khuffash said that the arrest of Ja'abari is a clear violation of international law and expressed concern for the safety of the boy's life. The organization also said that alarming quantities of children have recently been arrested in Jerusalem, Qalqilya, and Hebron. In an update on their website, Ahrar called on international organizations to intervene on behalf of children arrested by the Israeli military. According to Addameer, another prisoner rights organization, 4,520 Palestinians were held in Israeli military prisons as recently as November this year. 164 from the total number of prisoners are children, 21 of which are under 16-years-old. In an exclusive statement for BikyaMasr.com, Addameer said it “is deeply concerned about the growing number of arrests of children in recent months." “Since 2000, more than 8,000 children have been arrested, at times arrested from their family homes in the middle of the night. They are subjected to torture, interrogation, intimidation and ill-treatment, and are often held in the same cells as adults." Addameer also called on the international community to act in favor of detained Palestinian children. “This systematic and institutionalized incarceration of Palestinian children must be stopped immediately," she said. “Addameer appeals to the international community to demand the release of Saddam and all child prisoners and to hold Israel accountable to international law regarding children as prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child."
