The Israeli parliament has approved a bill that would allow the jailing of children under the age of 14 “when convicted of attacking Israelis.”
In a written statement released yesterday, the Knesset said that the bill, which was sponsored by a Knesset member from the Likud ruling party Anat Berko, was approved by a majority of 64 votes against 22 in its first reading.
According to the draft law, “the juvenile offenders would be interned in a youth facility until the age of 14, at which point they would be transferred to prison.”
Knesset member and representative of Israel’s Arab Joint List Osama Sa’adi condemned the legislation, describing it as “part of the ongoing incitement against the Palestinian people.”
Following the preliminary vote, the bill will be transferred to the parliamentary committee for the Constitution, Law and Judiciary for voting in second and third readings before it comes into force as an actual law.
Qadura Fares, the head of the humanitarian organisation the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, spoke out against the bill in an exclusive statement to Anadolu agency, saying that: “We strongly condemn the bill, which drowns Israel in more legislation and laws pertaining to children that are contrary to international law.”
“The international community should carefully pay attention to what is happening in Israel, as Israel’s arrogance is no longer limited to words and deeds, but is now turning into legislation; the thing that turns it into a first-class racist state,” Fares added.