A Palestinian teenager is jailed by Israel for protesting

A 17-year old Palestinian student and activist, Lina Khattab, was sentenced by an Israeli court on Monday to six months in prison and fined 6000 shekels on charges of “throwing stones” and “participating in an unlawful demonstration”.

Khattab, who is a first-year journalism student at Birzeit University, was arrested on December 13, after she attended a march by university students to Ofer military prison to express solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners.

Khattab also received a three year suspended sentence.

Following her detention, her mother, Samira, told al-Quds News Agency that Khattab had been beaten after her arrest, and is facing violence in prison.

The family have also attempted to secure her release, failing thus far.

“We tried to get her out on bail, the lawyer proposed house arrest... but the intelligence services are adamant that she be tried,” Samira Khattab said.

Khattab is the latest child detainee to be sentenced by the Israelis. 7,000 Palestinian children have been arrested since the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000, and on average 700 appear before Israel's military court every year, according to a UNICEF report.

The sentencing follows the release of 14-year-old Palestinian Malak al-Khatib on Friday, who had been detained for 45 days.