Autistic Palestinian boy allegedly sexually assaulted in Israeli prison
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
A 14-year-old Palestinian boy with a full 100 per cent diagnosis of autism has allegedly suffered horrific physical, sexual, and psychological abuse since his arrest and subsequent detention in an Israeli facility.
The case exposes the alleged brutality of Israeli authorities and a complete disregard for the rights of children and people with disabilities.
According to a report published by the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz, the boy, a resident of Jaffa, was arrested on 31 October. Israeli military forces reportedly raided his relatives’ home in the West Bank at dawn, causing widespread distress and chaos.
His mother recounted the arrest: “Dozens of soldiers came in at 4:30 am and pointed their rifles and lights at the children in their room. My son was shaking with such fear he couldn’t stand up.”
Despite his medical diagnosis as fully disabled due to autism, and the family’s insistence that he “wasn’t involved in anything,” Israeli police accuse him of serious security offences, including “contact with Hamas and ISIS,” “photographing sites in Israel,” and “trying to prepare explosives.”
READ: Palestinian rights group reports systematic sexual violence against detainees in Israeli prisons
Human rights advocates have described these accusations as exaggerated and disproportionate, given his severe medical and psychological condition.
Haaretz reveals the most shocking element of the case: the boy repeatedly warned authorities that he was being “forced to do things” by older cellmates.
However, a juvenile court judge, reportedly failed to order his transfer another cell or provide him with protection.
Only after a “clear sexual assault” was reported did a police investigation into the alleged assailants begin. The child was then moved to solitary confinement—a measure that occurred only after the catastrophe, and not as a preventative measure.
This case not only exposes alleged cruelty in Israel’s treatment of Palestinian children but also demonstrates how the Israeli security and justice system subjects a disabled child to heavy security charges without considering his basic human rights as a minor and a person with a disability. This is considered a clear breach of international law, particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
READ: Israeli military prepares target bank in West Bank ahead of possible escalation
