Girl becomes youngest Palestinian in Israeli jails

A 14-year-old Palestinian girl has become the youngest prisoner in Israeli jails after an Israeli court sentenced her to two months in jail and a fine of 6,000 Israeli shekels (roughly $1,500), a Palestinian NGO said.
The Ramallah-based Ahrar Centre for Prisoners' Studies and Human Rights said Malak al-Khatib, who was sentenced to prison by the court this week, was the youngest of around 280 Palestinian children in Israeli jails, the World Bulletin reported.
"Israel has been targeting Palestinian children for years," the center director, Fouad Khuffash said.
"Israeli violence against Palestinians, in general, and children, in particular, should not remain without response," he added.
He said his center had started a new campaign to pave the ground for al-Khatib's release.
The 14-year-old girl was detained by Israeli forces on December 31 of 2014 on her way back home from school in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
On Wednesday, an Israeli court convicted her of throwing stones at Israeli forces, blocking a main road in the West Bank and possessing a knife, according to her father.
Ali al-Khatib said his daughter was brought to the court with her hands and feet in handcuffs.
Israeli forces routinely launch arrest campaigns against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on the pretext that they are wanted by Israeli authorities.
Over 7,000 Palestinians are currently languishing in prisons throughout Israel, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs.