As of May 31, 2013, a total of 223 Palestinian children were imprisoned and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system.
The number of children between the ages of 12 and 15 rose to 48, an increase of 9.1 percent and the highest number since March 2009.
On 16 May, two young Palestinian boys from Silwan, East Jerusalem were unlawfully detained and questioned by Israeli authorities.
Around 3 pm, Israeli forces arrived at the family home of Nasrallah, 7, and Qassam, 6, to detain and question them about their cousin’s alleged involvement in making and throwing a Molotov cocktail, according to DCI-Palestine sources.
Shortly after, their father, Iyad, took the boys to Al-Mascobiyya interrogation center as requested by Israeli forces.
At Al-Mascobiyya, Iyad was beaten by Israeli forces in front of his children, causing the boys to cry. Iyad was then taken to another room, forced to strip to his underwear, and beaten again. The boys were then interviewed separately by the Israeli interrogators.
The children were not charged with any offenses, but family members believe Israeli forces made the boys witness the abuse of their father in order to coerce them to make a statement against their cousin.
Under Israeli civilian law, which Israeli authorities apply to Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, the age of criminal responsibility is 12 years, the same as Israeli military law applied in the occupied West Bank.