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Photo: credited to Israeli police spokesperson. Published by Maan News
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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces detained a 13-year-old Palestinian boy from occupied East Jerusalem on Sunday after allegedly finding a weapon in his possession, amid an ongoing crackdown on Palestinian children in the city, and following the passage of Israeli legislation permitting the imprisonment of Palestinians as young as 12 years old.

Israeli police spokesperson Luba al-Samri said in a statement that police ransacked and inspected the room of a 13-and-a-half-year-old boy in an educational institution where he had been staying, and allegedly found a handgun, two magazines, and a holster.

“The suspected minor was detained and his remand has been extended as investigation is ongoing,” she added.

The search was conducted after police received reports of weapons on the property, according to Israeli media sites.

The incident came amid a sharp escalation of arrests in occupied East Jerusalem over alleged criminal offenses and “disturbances” -- particularly stone throwings targeting Israeli settlers and security forces in the area.

In a single night, 52 Jerusalemite Palestinians were arrested -- including 11 minors -- in mass raids in Palestinian communities across the city involving 700 Israeli police officers.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, passed a bill into law permitting the imprisonment of children as young as 12 if the child committed acts of “terrorism” against Israeli civilians or military personnel.

The law is intended to punish primarily Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem who attempt attacks on Israeli civilians and military.

Palestinians of all ages from the occupied West Bank, including young minors, have long been tried, sentenced, and detained in Israel's military court system.

Israeli rights group B'Tselem responded to the new legislation in a statement, saying: "Rather than sending them to prison, Israel would be better off sending them to school where they could grow up in dignity and freedom, not under occupation.”

The so-called “Youth Bill” was the latest in a series of harsh measures passed into law by Israel that rights groups say specifically target young Palestinians for crimes that Israeli Jews are rarely held accountable for.

In July 2015, legislation was passed in the Israeli Knesset allowing sentencing for up to 20 years for someone convicted of throwing stones at vehicles if intent to harm could be proven. The law allows the Israeli state to imprison someone for up to 10 years without proof of intent.

In November, Israel established legislation allowing the sentencing of Palestinians to a minimum of three years in prison for the act of throwing a stone at an Israeli. Included in the legislation were provisions allowing Israeli authorities to strip stone throwers of their state benefits and canceling access to national health insurance and social services for the families of the accused.

According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), proposals are also under way to allow Israeli authorities to hand down life sentences to children under the age of 14.

According to rights group Defense for Children International - Palestine (DCIP), out of 65 cases documented in 2015, "more than a third of Jerusalem youth were arrested at night (38.5 percent), the vast majority (87.7 percent) were restrained during arrest, and only a slim minority of children (10.8 percent) had a parent or lawyer present during interrogation."

According to affidavits taken by DCIP in a recent report, during the latest arrests and sentencing of Palestinian minors for rock throwing, two of the teenagers “both had maintained their innocence and confessed only after they had experienced physical and psychological abuse.”