UK ‘concerned’ over punishment of minor stone-throwers in fatal attack

British officials recently expressed “concern” over the decision by an Israeli court to sentence five Palestinians youths to 15 years in prison for throwing stones at Israelis in an attack that led to the death of a toddler.

On January 28, the youths, known collectively as the Hares boys after the West Bank village they come from, were convicted for a March 2013 rock-hurling incident near Ariel that injured several Israelis, including Adele Bitton, who died of pneumonia last year at the age of 4.

In November, an official from the UK’s Tel Aviv embassy met with the IDF’s Chief Prosecutor for the West Bank, Lt. Col. Maurice Hirsch, to “raise our concerns over this case in addition to our broader concerns about Israel’s child detention policy,” British Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood stated in a written response to a lawmaker’s question about the case.

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“We were informed by the Chief Military Prosecutor that the Hares boys agreed to a plea bargain resulting in their imprisonment for 15 years. We continue to monitor developments in the case of the Hares boys and raise the issue with the Israeli authorities,” Ellwood added.

Adva Bitton at the funeral of her 4-year-old daughter Adele, February 18, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The UK embassy in Tel Aviv declined to provide more details about London’s involvement in this case. “British government officials meet with Israeli officials to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest on a regular basis,” a spokesperson said.

“As part of these meetings we regularly raise issues which are of interest and concern to the British public. The Hares boys case has received significant public, parliamentary, and media attention in the UK — in our regular dialogue with Israeli officials we’ve highlighted the attention that this case has attracted.”

On March 14, 2013, the five youths — Muhammad Suleiman, Tamer Souf, Ammar Souf, Ali Shamlawi and Muhammad Kleib — threw rocks at and hit several Israeli vehicles on a road near Kifl Haris, according to the IDF. One of the cars they struck belonged to Adva Bitton, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Yakir, who was driving with her three daughters. She lost control of the car and hit a truck, wounding all passengers. Adele Bitton was paralyzed from injuries suffered in the attack and crash and died in 2015 after spending two years in and out of hospitals.

Adele Bitton (photo credit: Courtesy)

The youths, who were 16 and 17 years old at the time of the event, admitted their involvement in the attack, though they later argued they confessed under duress.

Besides the 15-year prison term, the families of the youths had to pay a monetary fine.

Over the months, the case of the so-called Hares boys became somewhat of a cause celebre for pro-Palestinian activists, who argued that there is no evidence on whose basis they could be convicted and accused Israel of systematically mistreating minors.

Rather than being a victim of terrorism, activists argued, Bitton died because of a “settler car accident.”

Several solidarity marches for the Hares boys were organized across the globe. A Facebook page dedicated to the cause has over 2,500 likes.

On Sunday, at the one-year anniversary of Adele Bitton’s death, family and friends gathered in Yakir at a memorial event, which was also attended by Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein.