Israeli court hands US teen 9-day house arrest

JERUSALEM: Israeli police say an US-teenager who was detained during violent protests over the killing of a Palestinian youth has been released to house arrest for nine days pending an investigation into stone-throwing allegations. Tariq Abu Khder, 15, who holds US citizenship and lives in Florida, is a cousin of Mohammed Abu Khder, a 16-year-old Palestinian whose kidnap and murder by suspected Jewish extremists on Wednesday sparked four straight days of riots. “He was given nine days house arrest in Beit Hanina for the duration of the investigation,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said, following a hearing at Jerusalem Magistrates Court, referring to a neighbourhood of annexed Arab east Jerusalem. Samri earlier said police are asking the Jerusalem district court to extend the detention of 15-year-old Tariq Abu Khdeir, whose parents say was beaten brutally by Israeli police during clashes over the killing of Mohammed Abu Khdeir. Al Jazeera quoted his lawyer as saying that bail conditions included 10 days house arrest, a $2,857 fine and a ban on him entering Shuafat in occupied East Jerusalem. "If my son was involved in throwing rocks, the Israelis would have kept him," the boy's father told Al Jazeera. "If he was involved in the situation in Shuafat, they would have kept him." A video released by Palestine TV showed three masked officers beating a handcuffed teenager and then dragging him away. The boy could not be identified from the tape, but photographs released on Friday by Addameer, a local rights group, showed the badly beaten Abu Khdeir, with severe injuries to his face. Police say Tariq Abu Khdeir resisted arrest, attacked officers and was carrying a slingshot for lobbing stones when he was arrested. The US State Department said it was “profoundly troubled” by reports of his beating and demanded an investigation. Earlier on Saturday, Palestinian news agency Maan quoted Attorney General Mohammed Aluweiwi as saying the initial findings of a post-mortem indicated the presence of smoke in the boy’s lungs, meaning he was still alive while he was being burned. Mohammed Abu Khder, 16, was abducted from his Shuafat neighbourhood in occupied east Jerusalem early on Wednesday and his charred body was found not long afterwards in a west Jerusalem forest. Palestinians said it was the deed of Jewish extremists in revenge for the kidnapping and murder in the West Bank last month of three Israeli teenagers. A spokeswoman said police were investigating “all possibilities”, and that there was a gag order on all details of the investigation. House arrest Israeli police say 15-year-old Palestinian-American Tariq Abu Khdeir has been sentenced to nine days of house arrest. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri says a Jerusalem court on Sunday ordered Tariq Abu Khdeir to remain at home in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina. Abu Khdeir's family says he was severely beaten by Israeli police during protests in Jerusalem last week over the killing of a Palestinian teen.