Israel court system ‘protects’ occupation - rights group

A deal reached between Israeli military prosecutors and jailed Palestinian teen Ahed al-Tamimi -- by which the latter will serve eight months behind bars -- reveals the court's role in "protecting" Israel's decades-long occupation, an Israeli rights group said Thursday.

On Wednesday, an Israeli military court hammered out a deal with al-Tamimi's lawyers by which the 16-year-old would accept an eight-month prison term in return for confessing to assault charges.

"As part of the arrangement, al-Tamimi will confess to four counts of assault, including the videotaped slapping of an Israeli soldier," the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

The agreement -- which would also see al-Tamimi pay a $1,500 fine -- was reached during a Wednesday session of al-Tamimi's ongoing trial, which is currently being held behind closed doors.

Israeli soldiers arrested the teen from her home near Ramallah last December. When her mother went to the local authorities seeking information about her daughter, she too was detained.

Al-Tamimi was accused of "attacking" Israeli troops after a video went viral online showing her slapping an Israeli soldier who had trespassed on her family's backyard.

Ahed's cousin, Nur, who is also seen in the video, was also later detained.

Al-Tamimi's mother, meanwhile, has also been slapped with eight months in prison -- and a $1,700 fine -- for "incitement" and "assault".

- 'SAME SCENARIO'
"Every year, hundreds of Palestinian minors undergo the same scenario," B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, said in a Thursday statement.

"The interrogation [of suspects] often involves threats, yelling, verbal abuse and sometimes physical violence," it added. "Its sole purpose is to get [Palestinian] minors to confess or provide information about others."

"Minors agree to plead guilty as part of a plea bargain," the rights group asserted. "They sign it [the confession] so they can resume their normal lives as soon as possible after serving the prison sentence set out in the plea bargain."

According to Palestinian figures, about 6,400 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including dozens of women and scores of children.

Roughly 450 of these are being held under what Israel calls "administrative detention" where they face neither trial nor charge.