Rock-a-bye baby: Israeli forces raid Palestinian home to arrest three-year-old for stone-throwing

Israeli forces on Monday raided a home in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, searching for a Palestinian boy they accused of throwing stones, only to discover the child was only three years old, the boy's father told Ma'an.

Muhammad Jamal al-Jaabri said that Israeli forces raided his home in the al-Ras neighborhood of Hebron seeking to arrest his son Yousef, who they accused of throwing stones.

However, Muhammad said that his son Yousef is only three years old.

He said that the soldiers ransacked his house and threatened to detain the child, at which point the father said that he told the soldiers: "Go ahead and take him if you want."

He said the soldiers left his home without any arrests.

Human Rights Watch has condemned Israel over its "abusive arrests" of Palestinian children as young as 11 and of using threats to force them to sign confessions.

Israeli authorities regularly failed to inform parents of their children's arrest or whereabouts, the New York-based watchdog said in a report in July.

"Forces have choked children, thrown stun grenades at them, beaten them in custody, threatened and interrogated them without the presence of parents or lawyers, and failed to let their parents know their whereabouts," the report said