Israeli forces arrest, torture Palestinian youth with Down syndrome

A Palestinian youth with Down syndrome was arrested and tortured by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil.

The disabled youth was left with a broken arm after he was viciously assaulted by Israeli soldiers during his detention.

This marks the second time Israeli forces assaulted a Palestinian with Down syndrome after a similar incident took place during protests against U.S. President Donald Trump’s embassy move in December of last year.

Israeli forces then assaulted and detained Muhammad al-Taweel, who also suffers from Down syndrome, in the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil.

The inhumane treatment of Palestinian civilians at the hands of Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank comes as Israel steps up its attacks against peaceful protesters near the Gaza Border in the context of the ongoing “Great March for Return” demonstrations against Israeli occupation and oppression.

Four Palestinians were killed Friday by Israeli forces in two separate incidents near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

For almost four months, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been holding almost daily demonstrations near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.

Since the demonstrations began on March 30, more than 140 Palestinian protesters have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.

Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine, from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.