Israeli soldier punches a Palestinian child in the head

Tuesday July 08, 2008 21:13 by Rula Shahwan - IMEMC News

 The Israeli military police have arrested an Israeli soldier after he punched a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in the head on Monday at a military checkpoint near the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

The soldier claimed that he wasn’t sane at the time of the attack because he was undergoing personal problems.

The soldier, who serves as a military driver in the Jenin area, was travelling in the area several days ago when he encountered a number of Palestinian civilians. He allegedly got out of the car, grabbed one of the children and repeatedly hit him on the head.

During the incident, the soldier intentionally punched the boy in the head, and detained him for a while before letting him go.

The soldier's commanders, who found out about this incident, questioned him and reported the incident to the Investigation unit of the Military Police.

The soldier's lawyer, Mark Kobel, justified his attack by claiming that this was not an act of abuse but rather an incident which only lasted a few seconds.

This incident joins thousands of incidents which have taken place in the West Bank since Israeli occupied it in 1967, where soldiers killed, injured, or abused Palestinians civilians, including children, without any provocation.

jenin | israeli attacks | news report ghassanb at imemc dot org