Israeli authorities have released their youngest prisoner, a 12-year-old Palestinian girl convicted for plotting an attack on a West Bank settlement with a knife.
The school girl was detained in February and allegedly confessed to an attempted stabbing attack in a plea bargain with Israeli military prosecutors.
The Telegraph reports:
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There were 438 Palestinian minors imprisoned for security-related offences in February 2016, up from 170 last September, according to Israel Prison Service figures quoted by Israeli daily Haaretz.
The figures came out as a 12-year-old Palestinian girl was released from prison on Sunday, the youngest female ever incarcerated in Israel.
Dima al-Wawi was convicted in a plea bargain in February of attempted voluntary manslaughter and illegal possession of a knife by an Israeli military court.
Israeli minors under 14 are not given prison sentences, but a separate military law allows for Palestinians as young as 12 to be sent to jail.
Her parents were ordered to pay a fine of NIS 8000 (£1,488).
According to the indictment, the girl was apprehended outside the settlement of Karmei Tzur and confessed to intending to stab a Jew with a knife. She was released two months before the end of her sentence after a public appeal by her parents, lawyers and other activists.
According to the prison report, in February five children in jail were under 14, while seven were detained without charges.
It also showed an increasing number of young girls sent to jail. In February 2016, 12 girls were behind bars, compared to just one in September 2015.
The majority of the minors held – 106 of the 438 – came from the volatile city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, while 104 came from occupied East Jerusalem. Eighty six children came from Ramallah.
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