JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities have extended the detention of Palestinian Women’s National Football Team player Rand Halawani until Friday, drawing condemnation from Palestinian sports and human rights organizations amid growing concerns over the treatment of Palestinian athletes.
The 20-year-old footballer was detained on Tuesday after being summoned to the Tel Beit Police Station in West Jerusalem. According to the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) and the Jerusalem Governorate, Halawani was arrested immediately upon arriving at the station.
A Magistrate’s Court in Jerusalem reviewed her case on Wednesday and ordered that her detention be extended until Friday to allow authorities to continue an investigation. Israeli officials have not publicly disclosed the reason for her arrest.
Legal efforts are now underway to challenge the detention. Attorney Mohammad Mahmoud of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Jerusalem said he is preparing an urgent appeal before Israel’s Central Court, seeking Halawani’s immediate release and contesting the legal basis for her continued detention.
The arrest came on the same day Israeli forces detained Natalie Abu Diya, a media student at Birzeit University and a former Palestinian national team footballer. According to reports, Israeli forces raided her family home in Birzeit, north of Ramallah, before taking her into custody.
In a statement, Birzeit University condemned the arrests, describing them as part of what it called a broader policy targeting Palestinian students and their ability to continue their education.
The Palestine Football Association strongly denounced the detention of both athletes, arguing that the arrests reflect a broader pattern of restrictions and actions affecting Palestinian sports figures.
“Their arrest is not an isolated incident; it is part of a well-documented pattern of systematic targeting of Palestinian athletes,” the federation said in a statement, adding that such actions violate international sporting principles and athletes’ rights to freedom of movement and non-discrimination.
The association also referenced the recent case of Musab Abu Salem, who was reportedly prevented from traveling through the Allenby Bridge crossing to join the Palestine Stars team on a trip to Italy. The team had been scheduled to participate in a solidarity match against a Napoli Stars selection in support of the Palestinian people.
Beyond the arrests of Halawani and Abu Diya, Palestinian media reported that three additional young Palestinian women were detained in the occupied West Bank during the same period.
The developments come amid heightened tensions across the occupied West Bank, where Israeli military operations, arrests, and settlement expansion have intensified since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023. Human rights organizations and Palestinian institutions continue to raise concerns about the impact of these measures on civil society, education, and sports activities in the Palestinian territories.
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