Israel detains suspected Jewish militant without trial

Israel has taken the bizarre step of imprisoning without trial a suspected Jewish militant in the wake of an arson attack in which a Palestinian toddler lost his life.

According to the BBC, Mordechai Meyer, a resident of a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, has been placed under administrative detention for six months. He is suspected of violent activity as part of a Jewish terror group.

Israel, which has never used administrative detention orders against Jewish suspects, has adopted this new punitive measure under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership following the West Bank arson attack.

Netanyahu, who described the attack as 'an act of terrorism in every respect', underscored the necessity of detention without trial, saying Israel has taken this step to stop further violence in cases where there is not enough evidence to prosecute suspects, or where going to the court would risk revealing the identity of secret informants.

The attack, carried out by alleged Jewish settlers, killed 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha and severely injured the child's parents and his four-year-old brother in the West Bank village of Duma.