Israeli prosecutors on Tuesday lodged an appeal with the Ofer Military Court west of Ramallah against its decision to release Fawzi al-Juneidi, a Palestinian teen detained 20 days ago, on bail.
The 16-year-old's lawyer, Farah Dabayseh, told Anadolu Agency that the court would rule on the appeal at a Wednesday court session.
Prosecutors, for their part, say they plan to file an indictment against al-Juneidi, who was arrested by the Israeli army in early December for allegedly taking part in "violent riots".
Last Sunday, the Ofer court decided to release al-Juneidi on bail set at 10,000 Israeli shekels (roughly $2,860). Prosecutors, however, asked the court to wait an additional 48 hours to allow them to file an appeal.
Al-Juneidi was arrested in the West Bank city of Hebron (Al-Khalil) on Dec. 7 after being dragged on the ground and blindfolded by heavily-armed Israeli soldiers.
The photos of his detention by more than a dozen Israeli soldiers have become a symbol of Jerusalem protests.
"He was badly beaten and detained by Israeli soldiers," his uncle Rashad al-Juneidi said.
Fawsi's story is a familiar one among Palestinian families. At an early age, he had to drop out of school to support his family as the eldest of seven children.
Fawzi is his family's sole breadwinner as his father is bedridden and mother suffering from a terminal illness.
"Neither of the parents was healthy enough to even appear on camera," Rashad said, calling on international rights groups to intervene.
Lawyer Maamoun al-Hashim, quoting the child after his detention, said he was assaulted by dozen of soldiers, who kept hitting and insulting him while laying on the ground, according to a statement by the Palestinian Prisoners Society on Saturday.
"I was tied up by plastic bandages and dragged away blindfolded," the statement quoted the child as saying.
He said he was kept inside a dark room, where he was beaten. "I felt I was going to fall unconscious as a result of torture," the child was quoted as saying.
The Palestinian lawyer said Al-Juneidi had been interrogated while being handcuffed.
"He has been denied access to his lawyer or family visits," he said.
Khalid Kazmar, the director of the Palestinian branch of the Movement for Protection of World's Children, decried the Israeli policy of detaining Palestinian children.
"Hundreds of children have been detained by the Israeli army this year, most of them were in Jerusalem before being released shortly afterwards," he said.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society NGO, around 300 children are languishing in Israeli prisons.
Kazmar said some 700 Palestinian children have been court-martialed this year.
"Israel is the only country in the world where children are tried in military courts," he said.
"The fact that Palestinian children are subjected to custody and torture is a crime against humanity according to international law."
