RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Israel has extended for four more months the detention without charge or trial of a chronically-ill Palestinian teenager already held for a year, his father told AFP on Thursday.
Amal Nakhleh, 17, is one of the few minors held under what is known as administrative detention. The controversial practice allows for suspects to be detained without charge for renewable six-month terms while investigations continue.
His father, Moammar Nakhleh, told AFP after the latest hearing: “The occupation tribunal renewed my son’s administrative detention for the fourth time despite his illness.”
Nakhleh, a journalist, added that his son will remain in detention until May 18, under the new order.
The Shin Bet domestic security agency declined to comment to AFP on the reasons for Amal Nakhleh’s detention. It has previously been quoted as saying he was “suspected of having taken part in terrorist activity.”
Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank first arrested him in November 2020.
A football fan, he was out with friends after recovering from cancer surgery, his family said. The teen has myasthenia, a rare neuromuscular disease.
Accused of throwing stones at soldiers, Nakhleh was held for 40 days but then set free by an Israeli judge.
In January last year, he was re-arrested and placed in administrative detention, which has now been renewed again.
Administrative detention has been criticized by the Palestinians, human rights groups and foreign governments, who charge that Israel abuses it.
Israel’s foreign ministry has defended the practice, saying that “due to the complex and volatile security situation in the West Bank, detention orders are issued against those who plan terrorist attacks, or those who orchestrate, facilitate or otherwise actively assist in the commission of such acts.”
The foreign ministry says it is “an effective and lawful security measure.”
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA has taken up the teen’s case with Israeli authorities, demanding his immediate release for medical reasons and because he is a minor.
More than 450 Palestinians have been held in excess of 12 months under administrative detention, which prominent Israeli newspaper Haaretz has called an “undemocratic, corrupt practice.”
Israel extends detention of ill Palestinian teen: father
https://arab.news/w2agg
Israel extends detention of ill Palestinian teen: father
- Amal Nakhleh, 17, is one of the few minors held under what is known as administrative detention
- His father told AFP after the latest hearing: "The occupation tribunal renewed my son's administrative detention for the fourth time despite his illness"
Iran close to deal with China to buy supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles
- Giant aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford docks in Crete en route to Middle East
LONDON: Iran is close to a deal with China to purchase supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles, as the US deploys a vast naval force near the Iranian coast ahead of possible strikes.
The CM-302 missiles have a range of about 290 kilometers and are designed to evade shipborne defences by flying low and fast. Their deployment would significantly enhance Iran’s strike capabilities and pose a threat to US naval forces in the region, two weapons experts said.
“It’s a complete gamechanger if Iran has supersonic capability to attack ships in the area,” said Danny Citrinowicz, a former Israeli intelligence officer and now senior Iran researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a think tank in Israel. “These missiles are very difficult to intercept.”
It is not known how many missiles are involved in the potential deal, how much Iran has agreed to pay, or whether China would go through with the agreement given heightened tensions in the region.
“Iran has military and security agreements with its allies, and now is an appropriate time to make use of these agreements,” an Iranian foreign ministry official said.
Meanwhile the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest warship, has reached the US naval base of Souda Bay on the Mediterranean island of Crete en route to the Middle East.
Washington has more than a dozen warships in the region: the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, nine destroyers and three combat ships.
