Israeli soldiers intimidate Palestinian toddler in occupied West Bank

Israeli soldiers intimidated a Palestinian toddler near his home in the West Bank city of Hebron, a rights activist said on Saturday.

Footage circulated by Voice of Palestine Radio on its social media platforms shows a two-and-a-half-year-old boy pressed against a wall by a stairway leading to a home in the Makbarat Al-Ras neighborhood, appearing frightened as a male soldier and a female soldier stand in a firing stance and aim their weapons toward him.

Areej al-Jaabari, a Palestinian human rights activist who documented the incident, told Anadolu that the child was held for more than 15 minutes.

Jaabari said the boy had left his home to cross the street to a nearby shop, unaware of the stringent security measures imposed in the area.

She explained that the neighborhood was placed under a complete curfew from Friday evening throughout Saturday, the weekly day off for illegal Israeli settlers, measures that have been in place since Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023.

Because the child crossed the street in violation of those restrictions, he was detained and intimidated "as any other resident would be, even the elderly or the sick," she said.

The toddler suffered severe fear and distress and continued crying even after the two soldiers left, eventually falling asleep from exhaustion, she added.

The Makbarat Al-Ras area lies within Hebron's H2 zone, which includes the Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque and remains under full Israeli control under the 1997 Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel. The H1 area, which makes up most of the city, is administered by the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,105 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, injured nearly 11,000, and detained around 21,000 since October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.