The British government on Friday criticized Israel over its jailing of Palestinian Arab children, following the sentencing of a Palestinian Arab teenager Ahed Tamimi who was filmed slapping an Israeli soldier in the village of Nabi Saleh.
17-year-old Tamimi was sentenced earlier this week to eight months' imprisonment in practice and fined 5,000 shekels as part of a plea bargain.
Tamimi's trial is being conducted behind closed doors, and she is to be detained until the end of proceedings against her.
Her jail sentence was "emblematic of how the unresolved conflict is blighting the lives of a new generation", Britain's minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt, said in a statement on Friday quoted by AFP.
He said London remained concerned by Israel's jailing of Palestinian children, adding that the Jewish state needed to "do much more to safeguard vulnerable people in its care."
"We will continue to call upon Israel to improve its practices in line with international law and obligations," added Burt.
Tamimi, 16 at the time of the incident, has been hailed as a hero by Palestinian Arabs who see her as bravely standing up to Israel's “occupation”.
She told reporters on Wednesday before the court accepted the plea bargain agreement that "there is no justice under occupation and this is an illegitimate court".
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)