Rights group says Israeli forces stripped, ‘terrorised’ Palestinian boys aged seven, 13

Israeli forces forcibly "stripped, detained, humiliated, and terrorised" two Palestinian children, after a military raid in the northern occupied West Bank last week, a children’s rights group said.

Defence for Children – Palestine (DCIP) said Ibrahim Abu Ghali, seven, and Omar Mohammed Dirar Zaben, 13, were visiting their grandparents’ home on 10 March, in the west of Jenin, when their grandmother was shot for going outside to listen for the morning call to prayer during an Israeli military raid.

Israeli soldiers detained Ibrahim, Omar, and their grandfather, forcing them to strip to their underwear at gunpoint. Their hands were bound with plastic ties, and they were left exposed in the cold for an hour before being crammed onto the floor of a military vehicle and taken to the Jalameh interrogation centre in northern Israel without their clothes.

"Forcing young children to strip, detaining them in degrading conditions, and subjecting them to psychological terror is a clear violation of international law and amounts to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment," said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP.

Once they were released after 12 hours, they learned that Israeli soldiers had killed their grandmother.

Israeli forces detained Ibrahim, 7, and Omar, 13, from their grandparents' home outside Jenin for about 12 hours. Once they were released, they learned Israeli soldiers killed their grandmother. https://t.co/2OHGzrhmNM

— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) March 20, 2025