'Acts of Revenge': Israel Abducts Palestinian Women Athletes, Students
Families say the arrests came without explanation amid a sharp rise in the detention of Palestinian women and girls.
The pounding on the door came before dawn.
When Ahmed Safi awoke to the sound of Israeli soldiers storming his apartment building in Birzeit town, he assumed they were there for someone else.
The Palestinian father never imagined the raid would end with the arrest of his 20-year-old daughter, Sama, a psychology student at Birzeit University, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank....
According to the family, soldiers entered the building in the early hours of Tuesday morning, shouting orders as they moved through the premises.
They demanded the identity cards of Ahmed, his wife and their daughter before informing Sama that they had an arrest warrant for her....
The soldiers then ransacked Sama's room, confiscating her phone, laptop and personal belongings. They also seized photographs of her cousin, Ayser Safi, who was killed by Israeli forces in 2024.
Sama was then taken downstairs, handcuffed, blindfolded and placed in a military vehicle.
For her family, the arrest has been compounded by concerns over her health.
Sama suffers from Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), a chronic inflammatory disease that requires ongoing medication to prevent severe complications....
The family has since learned that Sama is being held at the Al-Maskubiya interrogation centre in Jerusalem. Her first court hearing is scheduled for next Tuesday. The charges are as yet unknown.
Sama was one of five women detained by Israeli forces this week, three of them current students at Birzeit University and one graduate of the institution.
Among those arrested were two members of the Palestinian women's national football team: Natalie Abu Diya, 20, and Rand Halawani, 20.
The other two were Julan Abu Awad and graduate Laila Nael Khalil....
Israeli forces carry out daily arrest raids across the occupied West Bank, detaining scores of Palestinians each week.
According to Palestinian prisoner rights groups, around 9,000 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, half of them without charge or trial.
Abdullah Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, said there had been a marked increase in the detention of girls and women, particularly university students....
He said many arrests were being carried out under allegations of "incitement", often linked to social media activity expressing opposition to the occupation or solidarity with Palestinians....
"These arrests are part of ongoing acts of revenge against the Palestinian people by the occupation."
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