Arrest. Illustration
Arrest. Illustrationistock

Four minors, residents of Gush Etzion, were arrested around 4 a.m. at their homes. Police and detectives arrived at their homes and woke them from their sleep.

The minors were taken to the central unit of Judea and Samaria, where they were investigated regarding an incident which had taken place many months ago. After the investigation, the four were released on bail without any restrictive conditions.

The Honenu legal aid organization, which provided legal assistance to the youth, slammed police conduct. “It cannot be that minors are snatched from their beds in the early morning for an investigation of an incident from many months ago, without police having made an attempt to call them for investigation in an orderly fashion, as is customary. The fact that they were released after being investigated without any restrictive conditions shows that there was no need for their arrest and that it would have been possible to call them in an organized fashion to investigation - sparing them a difficult and traumatic experience.”

“Judea and Samaria Police forgot the law that arrest serves as a last resort. All around Israel, Israel Police calls in suspects in an orderly way - only in Judea and Samaria do they trample every law and allow themselves to harm minors.”

Honenu said that “It appears that the goal of the arrest was not to investigate but to punish and pursue. They punish minors without taking their age into consideration and leave them with [psychological] scars, as if there’s no tomorrow. A minor is a child and needs to be treated as such - even if he has sidelocks. It is unfortunate to see Israel Police harming minors is such a serious way. We intend to act on the matter.”