Israeli occupation authorities almost every day deliberately pursue Jerusalemite children and target them with arrest, assault, abuse, and imposing deportation, home confinement and high sentences against them, without regard for their childhood and their legitimate rights.

Recently, the occupation forces have arrested dozens of Jerusalemite children, some of whom were subjected to harsh interrogations, torture, brutal beatings, and home confinement, and others who lost their eyes and were deprived of their most basic rights, which are guaranteed by international humanitarian law.

Despite what international laws stipulated, specifically the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to protect the rights of children and not to arrest them, the occupation insists on its violation, amid international silence and the absence of any protection for the Palestinian children.

Abuse and Torture

The Jerusalemite child Mahad Dari, 13, is one of those children who have been subjected to the harshest methods of torture and deliberate abuse by the occupation forces.

On January 28, the occupation forces stormed the home of the Dari family in the village of Issawiya, northeast of Jerusalem, after completely besieging it and brutally blowing up the door, and severely beating the family members, and arrested Mahad and his brother Majd.

"When the occupation forces stormed the house at night, they raided the room of Mahad and his brother Majd while they were sleeping, and beat them on the face, back and head, and then their hands and feet were cuffed and arrested without allowing them to wear shoes," said Marwan Dari, Mahad and Majd father.

Marwan added that "his son Mahad,  after he was transferred to the Al-Maskobiya investigation center, he was still handcuffed behind his back and his eyes were covered. He stayed for long hours, during which he was pushed, severely beaten, kicked, insulted without regard for his young age and innocent childhood."

The father of the child was also attacked by the Israeli police, pushed and beaten, in addition to insulting him with words.

Deprivation of Rights

As for the minor Tayseer Al-Natsheh, 17, he reported to Safa when he was arrested and beaten by the Israeli occupation, saying: “Several months ago, Israeli police raided the Ras Al-Amoud neighborhood in the town of Silwan, and while I was with my friends in the neighborhood, the police attacked us in a brutal manner. They assaulted and insulted us without knowing the reasons."

Al-Natsheh added, "They covered my face and cuffed my feet and hands. They arrested me and two of my friends. During the interrogation, I was also beaten, insulted, and psychologically tortured. The interrogator charged me with throwing Molotov cocktails at a settlement in Ras al-Amud. I was taken then to the Al-Maskobiya investigation center, and I stayed there for 14 days."

He described the Al-Maskobiya investigation center, saying “Life there is not possible. It lacks the most basic services and rights.”

After 14 days, the occupation authorities transferred Al-Natsheh to Damon prison. After eight days, he was released on the condition that he pays a fine of 3 thousand shekels, in addition to home confinement. He was deported to the Wadi al-Joz neighborhood for a period of 4 months.

For nine months, Al-Natsheh has been in home confinement, and he has never been able to leave his home, see his friends, or practice his life normally like other children and boys, but the occupation authorities allowed him a month ago, to leave for only two hours accompanied by his father.
 
Al-Natshe is awaiting his trial session scheduled for next April, after it was postponed several times, with the charge of "throwing Molotov cocktails at an Israeli settlement in Silwan."

Violation of laws

The head of the Committee for the Families of Jerusalemite Prisoners, Amjad Abu Asab, said that the occupation authorities have used new methods against the children of Jerusalem, including targeting, investigation, trial, imposing fines, and methods of torture.

Abu Asab reported that in 2020, the occupation forces arrested about 364 children aged between 12-18, 8 children under 12 years old, and 3 minors, underlining that the occupation violates international law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in its treatment of Palestinian minors.