Florida-Based Tariq Khdeir, Allegedly Beaten Up By Israeli Police, Placed On House Arrest

An Israeli judge speedily placed a Florida-based Palestinian teen under house arrest Sunday after he was allegedly beaten up while in custody.

Tariq Khdeir was arrested on Friday during the clashes that followed the funeral of his cousin Muhammad Abu Khdeir, who was reportedly killed in revenge for the killing of the three Israeli teenagers whose bodies were found Monday. Though the Israeli police claimed that 15-year-old Tariq was involved in the clashes, in which protesters became violent with police forces, he and his family deny the claims and say he was “just watching."

Amid U.S. interest in the case, the Israeli judge has put Khdeir under a house arrest for nine days during which he will reportedly stay at a relative’s place.

“Why would you attack me like that? At least try to tell me why would you do that to me if I didn't do anything to you,” Khdeir said, according to Reuters.

The Israeli Justice Ministry said that it is looking at a prompt investigation into the matter, as the video of Khdeir being beaten up by the two officials started going viral on the Internet, according to BBC, which sourced the video from Palestine Today.

“We are profoundly troubled by reports that he (Khdeir) was severely beaten while in police custody and strongly condemn any excessive use of force. We are calling for a speedy, transparent and credible investigation and full accountability for any excessive use of force,” Jen Psaki, U.S. State Department’s spokesperson, said in a statement Saturday, adding that a U.S. consulate official visited Khdeir in Jerusalem.

Israel’s forces also arrested six people on Sunday in relation to Abu Khdeir’s death, in an effort to resolve the cause of his death, which started clashes in the country.

“The murderers came from the territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority; they returned to territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, according to the New York Times, adding: “Therefore, the Palestinian Authority is obliged to do everything in its power to find them, just as we did, just as our security forces located the suspects in the murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir within a matter of days.”

Meanwhile the situation in Israel worsened Monday as the Israeli Defense Forces, or IDF, conducted two waves of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and reportedly killed nine militants from Hamas, the group which controls Gaza. Hamas promised retaliation and fired an anti-tank missile aimed at IDF near the southern Gaza border, though nobody was hurt, according to Haaretz.

IDF’s second wave of the airstrikes bombed five underground rocket launchers, Jerusalem Post reported.