Israel extends detention of Palestinian women's soccer player arrested for 'throwing objects'

Israeli authorities on Wednesday extended the detention of Rand Halawani, a 20-year-old player on the Palestinian women's national soccer team. Police arrested Halawani on Tuesday night in Jerusalem, alleging she threw objects at people. An Israeli court extended her detention until Friday.

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Officers arrested a male and female suspect, aged 18 and 20, residents of East Jerusalem, who are suspected of being the individuals documented throwing objects at demonstrators.

The Palestinian Football Association strongly denounced the prolonged detention, calling the arrest "not an isolated incident." The association stated it is "part of a well-documented pattern of systematic targeting of Palestinian athletes, which continues without accountability."

In a separate incident on Tuesday, Israel's military arrested former national soccer player Natalie Abu Diyeh and three other young Palestinian women in the West Bank. The military claimed the four women were suspected of "promoting terrorist activities and additional terrorist-related activities."

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it is part of a well-documented pattern of systematic targeting of Palestinian athletes, which continues without accountability.

Birzeit University, where Abu Diyeh is a student, condemned the arrests as part of Israel's "systematic policies targeting Palestinian education and students' right to continue their academic journey." Bishop Imad Haddad of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, to which Abu Diyeh belongs, expressed shock and called for her release, noting that her family did not know her whereabouts.

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The military said in a statement that the four women were suspected of “promoting terrorist activities and additional terrorist-related activities.”

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, 89 Palestinian women are currently held in Israeli jails, including three minors and three pregnant women. The association also reported in late May that over 9,400 Palestinians were in Israeli prisons.

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systematic policies targeting Palestinian education and students' right to continue their academic journey.