Children as bombers

last updated 8 January 2015

West Bank

Palestinian militants have begun planting bombs on young children, who are less likely to be searched when they cross into Israel. An 11-year-old boy was stopped this week after he agreed to carry a militant’s bag through a West Bank checkpoint for money. An alert guard noticed that the bag was unusually heavy and lumpy, and she found a bomb rigged to go off when the child was near Israeli guards. It would have killed the boy as well if the trigger hadn’t failed. The boy, Abdallah Quran, didn’t know he was carrying a bomb and was quickly released. “He is a cute boy,” said an Israeli battalion commander. “Our problem is not with the boy, but with those who sent him.”