Yesterday, soldiers briefly detained a developmentally disabled
Palestinian boy, who is under the age of criminal responsibility, on
suspicion that he had thrown stones. The boy, A. a-Rajbi, (full name
withheld in interest of privacy) who will be 12 in a month, was detained
after Palestinian children threw stones at soldiers on the main road of
the Jabel Johar neighborhood in Hebron, close to the settlement of
Kiryat Arba. A-Rajbi was handcuffed, blindfolded, and held on the floor
of an army jeep for some 15 minutes until his father arrived and
convinced the soldiers to release his son, who is mentally disabled and
cannot speak.

In the video footage, filmed by B’Tselem volunteer
Samih Da’na from his window, soldiers are seen holding the boy,
handcuffing him, blindfolding him and closing him in the jeep, despite
cries by Palestinian residents that the boy is mentally disabled. The
footage also shows settlers from Kiryat Arba, watching the incident from
behind the settlement’s fence. Some are seen calling out encouragement
to the soldiers, including several racist remarks.