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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- An Israeli military court in the Ofer prison extended the detention of a young Palestinian boy on Sunday, his family told Ma’an.

Ahmad Omar al-Atrash, 13, from the al-Duheisha refugee camp near Bethlehem, will remain in Israeli prison custody until at least Thursday.

Ahmad’s family said that his parents were initially prevented from visiting him, but that his lawyer interfered and allowed them to see him for a few minutes.

Ahmad was detained after he was shot by Israeli undercover forces north of Bethlehem during clashes on Friday.

A group of young Palestinians started a campaign asking for the release of Ahmad and all other Palestinian children prisoners.
According to prisoners’ rights NGO Addameer, 470 Palestinian children were held in Israeli custody as of December.

Rights group Defense for Children International-Palestine found in July that in the first half of 2014, "86 percent of Palestinian children experienced some form of physical violence during their arrest or interrogation."

The group added: "Ill treatment of Palestinian children remains widespread and systematic in the Israeli military detention system as children arrested by Israeli forces arrive at Israeli interrogation centers blindfolded, bound and sleep deprived."

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies said earlier this month that around two-thirds of the 1,900 Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem who were detained by Israeli forces in 2015 were minors.