‘Say cheese’, Israeli soldiers force Palestinian minors to pose for photo

JERUSALEM

Israeli soldiers have forcibly awaken 13 Palestinian children in the middle of the night and illegally photographed them during a raid in the West Bank, according to Israeli rights group B’Tselem.

A video posted by the rights group showed soldiers waking up the 13 children inside a house in the city of Hebron and forcing them out of the building.

The children were ordered by soldiers to line up and photographed, as family members tried to calm down some crying children.

The video showed Israeli soldiers ordering the children to say “cheese” while taking pictures of them.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, citing an army spokesman, said the incident took place in September. The spokesperson described the actions of the soldiers as "inappropriate", saying they were warned and that measures would be tightened up to prevent such incidents from recurring.

The military spokesman claimed that the soldiers raided the house in Hebron to identify those who threw stones at a nearby Jewish settlement.

“These images reveal how the Palestinians living under occupation are arbitrarily disturbed and how their rights are violated by the soldiers,” B'tselem said in a statement.

"It seems that all Palestinians, including primary school-aged girls and boys, pose a threat to the Israeli military," the group said.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat