Israel sentences Palestine teen to 10 years in jail

The Israeli Central Court in Jerusalem yesterday sentenced a Palestinian teen from the occupied city of Jerusalem to ten years imprisonment and issued him a fine of 17,000 Israeli shekels ($50,000) for allegedly planning to attack soldiers with a knife.

The Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs condemned the court’s ruling against Muhammad Khaled Abu Sneina, 17, saying it demonstrates the extent of the Israeli authorities’ disregard for international laws and human rights.

The head of the commission, Hassan Quneita, described the verdict as “more evidence” of the Israeli judiciary and courts’ involvement in establishing Israeli hegemony as an occupying entity in the occupied Palestinian state.

READ: Palestinian mother recalls emotional abuse in Israeli jail

Muhammad was arrested on 28 October 2019 after Israeli soldiers shot him in the Old City of Jerusalem.

According to Palestinian prisoners’ groups, Israel has arrested nearly 19,000 children under the age of 18 since the outbreak of the Second Intifada in September 2000, including children under ten years old.