12-year-old Palestinian girl released from Israeli prison
Israel has released a 12-year-old Palestinian girl who was arrested near a Jewish settlement with a knife. Dima al-Wawi spent more than two months in prison on charges of attempted knife attack. The girl was handed over to the Palestinian authorities at the checkpoint in Tulkarem in the north of the West Bank.
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Dima al-Wawi was met by Father Ismail and mother Sabha after her release.
She was supposed to go home to a family that lives near Hebron in the south of the West Bank. A girl in a school uniform was arrested on February 9 at the entrance to a Jewish settlement in the occupied part of the West Bank. They found a knife with her.
A mother hugs her 12-year-old daughter, who spent more than two months in an Israeli prison.
Dima al-Wawi crosses the border at a checkpoint near the town of Tulkarem.
In agreement with the Israeli investigation, al-Wawi pleaded guilty to attempted murder and carrying a bladed weapon and was sentenced to four months in an Israeli prison and a further six weeks of probation. Her lawyer Tariq Barghut wrote on Facebook that al-Wawi is the youngest Palestinian prisoner of the Israeli authorities. He said that the girl's defense filed an appeal to the military court for her early release and the demand was satisfied.
Dima with his mother and brother Ahmad.
Under Israeli military law, children from the age of 12 can be charged with crimes. According to UNICEF, this is the earliest age of criminal responsibility in the world. Israel is currently holding about 450 Palestinian minors, about a hundred of them under the age of 16.
The girl was reunited with her family in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank.
In Palestine, she was greeted as a hero.
Since October 2015, a series of attacks in which Palestinians attacked with knives or rammed cars has led to the deaths of 28 Israelis. During the same period, 201 Palestinians were killed, most of them in attacks.
Keywords: Arrest | Middle east | Israel | Liberation | Palestine | Assassination | Prison