12-year-old Palestinian girl to be released from Israeli jail

Dima al-Wawi, the youngest known female Palestinian prisoner, will soon walk free from her jail cell.

1 min read

12 April, 2016

12-year old Dima was arrested in Febuary [twitter]

The youngest Palestinian female prisoner on record will be released later this month, after the Israeli prison service approved a request for her early release, the Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs office announced late on Monday evening.

Dima al-Wawi, 12, will be released on April 24.

The Israeli supreme court sentenced Wawi, from the West Bank, to more than four months' imprisonment and a fine of $2,000. She was arrested on February 9 for allegedly carrying a knife in her school bag, as she was heading to school in her uniform near the town of Beit Ummar, a little north of Hebron.

According to a Human Rights Watch [HRW] report released last year, Israeli security forces have used unnecessary force to arrest or detain Palestinian children as young as 11.

"Israeli forces' mistreatment of Palestinian children is at odds with its claim to respect children's rights," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW, at the time.

Around 6,000 Palestinian children were detained by Israeli troops between 2010 and 2015.