Israeli military forces have arrested three Palestinians, including at least two children, in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) for allegedly throwing stones at passing vehicles.

Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said that the three were detained on the outskirts of al-Quds’ Old City on Tuesday.

One of the detainees was identified as an 11-year-old, who allegedly threw stones at a taxi as it was passing near his home in the East al-Quds neighborhood of al-Tur.

Another was a 15-year-old, who purportedly hurled stones at an Israeli bus on Sultan Suleiman Street adjacent to the Old City.

There was no information on the third detainee.

The report comes as the Tel Aviv regime has moved to toughen the measures against Palestinian stone-throwers in al-Quds (Jerusalem), broadening rules to allow Israeli military forces to target Palestinians with live bullets.

“The security cabinet has decided to authorize police to use live ammunition against people throwing stones and Molotov cocktails,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on September 24.

The statement added, “We have decided to penalize more severely adult stone-throwers with a minimum sentence of four years in prison and also to authorize larger fines for minors and their parents.”

The announcement came a week after Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein approved the arrest of minors and children under the age of 10 who throw stones, in addition to a fine of up to 100,000 Israeli shekels (about 26,000 US dollars).

The new Israeli measures against Palestinian stone-throwers come as Israeli forces and Palestinians have recently been clashing at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of al-Quds.

Israel has applied sweeping restrictions on entries into the sacred site since August 26.

The al-Aqsa Mosque is Islam’s third holiest site after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.

Stone-throwing has been a symbol of Palestinian resistance against the Tel Aviv regime’s arrogant policies and atrocities since the first Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.