Protest sit-in demanding release of detained child in the Israeli jails

Scores of Palestinians held lit candles during a protest sit-in organized by the Popular Committee against the Siege on Tuesday evening in the Gaza Strip demanding the release of Khaled al-Sheikh,14, the youngest Palestinian prisoner in the Israeli jails.

Protesters raised pictures of the detained child and lifted banners reading “Freedom to Khalid al-Sheikh” and “Freedom to captives”.

MP Jamal al-Khudari, head of the committee, said in a speech he delivered during the protest: “From besieged Gaza we stand in support of our captives in the Israeli jails telling them that freedom is approaching.”

Khudari called upon local and international human rights institutions to pressure Israel into releasing al-Sheikh, pointing out that the child has been detained in the Israeli jails for 60 days and that he is in dire need for constant medical care as he suffers from anemia.

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) kidnapped the child on December 25, 2014, while he was playing with his friends near the separation wall adjacent to Beit Anan village in occupied Jerusalem on allegations of hurling stones at the Israeli soldiers and torching tires. His family hasn’t been able to see him since then and the child is being kept in Ofer prison near Ramallah.

According to official statistics, about 7,000 Palestinians are being held in Israeli jails suffering from harsh detention conditions and deliberate medical neglect.