WEST BANK (Web Desk) – Barely out of nappies this five year old boy was not the most likely candidate to take on six heavily armed troops.
But that did not stop the Palestinian youngster, dressed in full combat gear, from attempting to pelt Israeli police with stones during violent clashes on the West Bank.
The bemused officers, equipped with helmets and body armour, calmly watched as the child launched his own David and Goliath assault before racing away.
The boy’s stone attack came as violence erupted on the northern West Bank during annual demonstrations to mark Palestinian Prisoners Day.
Soldiers used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd after more than 100 Palestinians rallied near Israel’s separation barrier in the village of Bilin, with some throwing stones.
At least one protester was believed to have been injured as violence flared on the streets.
Prisoners Day is marked every year in solidarity with the more than 6,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails.
“We will not leave our prisoners in jail alone,” rally organiser Abdullah Abu Rahma said.
“We will defend their right to be released, because the majority of them have been arrested illegally by Israeli forces.”
With Israel having arrested some 800,000 Palestinians in the occupied territories since 1967 – equivalent to 40 percent of the male population – almost every Palestinian family has been affected.
During the last round of US-backed peace talks in 2013 and 2014, Israel freed dozens of long-term inmates.
But after the negotiations broke down, and following the kidnap and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, Israel arrested hundreds more.
The current number of Palestinian prisoners is the highest for at least five years, according to figures from rights groups.
