Israel has arrested three Palestinian boys for plotting a suicide attack.

And when I say “boys,” I mean 13-year old boys.

NABLUS, West Bank - Israeli security forces arrested three Palestinian youths who planned to carry out a suicide attack out of anger over Israel’s West Bank barrier, relatives said Sunday.

The youths, ages 13 and 14, were among the youngest ever arrested for planning suicide attacks. Parents of one of the boys expressed outraged (sic) that militant groups had taken to drafting young boys to carry out suicide attacks.

Most suicide bombers have been in their 20s. The youngest was 16 years old.

The army did not immediately comment.

Mohammed Abu Mahsen said his 13-year-old son, Tarek, along with his friends, Jaffer Hussein, 13, and Ibrahim Suafta, 14, left a letter saying they planned to carry out a shooting attack at an Israeli military checkpoint or army base, he said.

The 13-year-olds claimed to be members of Islamic Jihad, while Suafta said he belonged to the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a militant group linked to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, family members said. The boys were arrested last Thursday.

“I want to carry out an attack against (Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon’s fence. This fence, we will blow it up also, the Islamic Jihad youth movement,” Tarek wrote in the letter.

“We want you to give out candies and don’t cry for us and hold a big demonstration,” he added, referring to traditional salutes given to “martyrs” who die for the Palestinian cause.

My BS detector is going off on that “parents were outraged” line. It’s much more likely that they’re simply trying to avert Israeli retaliation for their children’s murderous plan. Palestinian media pumps out a steady stream of incitement to “martyrdom,” and the walls of every Palestinian town are covered with “martyr” posters and Hamas graffiti. And we’re supposed to believe their lovely little child was suddenly tricked into doing this?