Israeli police raid wedding party to prevent marriage of 14-year-old bride

Police in central Israel prevented a wedding involving a 14-year-old girl from taking place on Monday, arresting the girl's father and her groom-to-be.

The intervention took place before the ceremony could take place at a wedding hall in the city of Lod, according to Israel's Channel 2.

The groom, who is in his twenties, was later released to house arrest after a brief detention, alongside the girl's father, a Hasidic rabbi who was also due to conduct the ceremony.

According to local welfare ministry officials who spoke to the television channel, there is no way of monitoring whether another wedding will be arranged in secret for a future date.

Israel's minimum age of marriage is 18 - having been raised from 17 in 2013. Exceptions to this law can only be made with special permision from a family court.

According to a 2016 report by a Knesset committee, 716 under age marriages took place between 2014 and 2015.