Under the bill, which is the brainchild of Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, jail sentences could be handed down to children as young as 12, though the offender would start serving the sentence only when he turned 14.
Prison sentences could be imposed on children younger than 14 only if they are convicted of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter, the draft bill states.
The bill makes no distinction between those convicted of a terror-motivated crime and those convicted of other crimes.
Children below age 12 are currently considered below the age of criminal responsibility and cannot be subjected to criminal proceedings at all. Children aged 12 or 13 can be arrested and tried, but they can’t be sentenced to jail unless they have turned 14 by the time the sentence is handed down. Instead, they can be sent to closed treatment facilities and kept there until age 20.
The Israeli force have so far detained hundreds of Palestinian minors for throwing stones.
In a report released in September, the International rights group, Defense for Children International Palestine (DCIP), said that nearly 2,000 Palestinian children have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli military forces and illegal settlers over the past 15 years.
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