Israel: The only state that court-martials children

Fawzi Al-Juneidi, a 14-year-old Palestinian, was blindfolded and dragged as he was detained by dozens of Israeli soldiers, becoming a symbol of the Palestinian people’s third intifada that erupted following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

After Juneidi’s court hearing at the Ofer Military Prison, which is located close to Ramallah, his uncle Rashad Juneidi stated that the prosecutor needed extra time to prepare the criminal report and extended his nephew’s detention period for three more days.

Junieidi’s uncle and lawyers went to court on Tuesday. The hearing will reconvene on Dec.14.

Khalid Kazmar, the director of the Palestinian branch of the Movement for Protection of World's Children, announced that Israel exacerbated its policy of detaining Palestinian children in the West Bank.

He added that hundreds of children have been detained by the Israeli army this year. Kazmar said that approximately 700 Palestinian children have been court-martialed in 2017 alone.

Kazmar emphasized that Israel is the only country in the world where children are tried in military courts.

‘’Palestinian children being detained and subjected to torture is a crime against humanity according to international law,’’ he concluded.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S.’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s “undivided” capital and said the U.S. embassy would relocate from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The dramatic shift in Washington’s Jerusalem policy triggered demonstrations in the occupied Palestinian territories, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq and other Muslim countries.