Occupation forces raided the village of al Nabi Saleh late night, arresting a 13-year-old Islam Tamimi.
According to residents, soldiers entered the village at 2:00 in the morning and burst into the family home. They proceeded to severely beat Islam, as well as his mother and father, with both their fists as well as the butts of their rifles.
Residents are in contact with a lawyer, but until now the whereabouts of Islam are unknown.
Occupation forcesâ use of violence and arrest to deter protest, a well-documented tactic in several villages, is also employed in al Nabi Saleh. One protestor explained how the injured are wary of going to the hospital, as soldiers are known to arrest the wounded after they return. Recently, soldiers raided al Nabi Saleh and took pictures of all the young men in the village, a thinly veiled threat that those photographed protesting risk arrest.
In addition to arrests, al Nabi Saleh has been facing an increasing level of violence from Occupation forces, in particular during the Friday demonstrations. Soldiers have been consistently firing and throwing tear gas into homes, and as a result nearly every window in small village is covered with metal or wood. High-velocity tear gas canisters are also used to target residents, breaking the legs of several young men and injuring a number more.
Update (Jan. 26): Islam is being held at Ofer, with a hearing scheduled for Thursday. His age has been identified as 14, not 13 as previously reported. Furthermore, his younger brother Karim (10) was also briefly arrested yesterday, but released shortly after.