What's New

A Palestinian boy, estimated to be around 8 years old, threatened to stab soldiers near a West Bank checkpoint close to Route 443 on Thursday, the IDF spokesperson reported.

According to the report, the boy arrived at the checkpoint and, after a few seconds, pulled out a large knife, shouted at the soldiers and threw the knife at them. No injuries were reported.

The boy then escaped to the nearby village of Beit Ur al-Tahta.

Palestinian sources suggested that the knife might have been planted on the boy by Israel. The Palestinian Maan news agency wrote that "Eyewitnesses have also said in a number of cases that Israeli security forces planted knives on slain or imprisoned Palestinians to claim that they were acting in self-defense during a stabbing attack.

The phenomenon of under-age attackers has become increasingly common in recent years and has been attributed to incitement in the Palestinian education system.

Last week, the European Parliament's budgetary committee voted to freeze more than 15 million euros from the Palestinian Authority if they do not reform their textbooks.

"The reserve will be released," the bill reads, "when the Palestinian Authority has committed to reform its school curriculum and textbooks to bring them in line with UNESCO standards for peace and tolerance in school education."

Report: Pre-Teen Palestinian Boy Threatens to Stab Israeli Soldiers Document

International Religious Freedom Report El Salvador 2016 Document

International Religious Freedom Report Costa Rica 2016 Document

Why didn't we stop funding UNRWA years ago? Article