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TEL AVIV (Ma'an) -- Israel jailed a Palestinian teenager for almost six months on rape charges, even though eyewitnesses and DNA evidence did not link him to the crime, Israeli media reported on Monday.

The 16-year-old shepherd from the south Hebron hills, identified only as A., was jailed for 171 days after a female settler in the area was raped in March, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

The woman identified him in a line-up, but other eyewitnesses and a DNA test failed to link him to the crime, the report said.

During the trial, the military judge asked police to provide more evidence, and they finally traced the woman's stolen phone to different suspects, it continued.

In June, a delegation of senior British lawyers issued a report saying that by applying separate legal regimes for Israeli and Palestinian children, Israel is in breach of international laws against discrimination.

Israeli children cannot be jailed under the age of 14, while Palestinian children as young as 12 have been held by Israel. Israeli children must be given access to a lawyer within 48 hours, whereas Palestinians can be held for three months without legal aid.

Israel is also breaking international humanitarian law by transferring Palestinian children from an occupied territory into Israel, it notes.

Rights groups estimate around 700 Palestinian children are detained by Israel every year.
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