Israeli occupation forces arrested for the fourth time prominent Palestinian politician Khalida Jarrar from her home in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah overnight on Thursday.
Jarrar, a former member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was arrested at 3am local time (00:00 GMT) and taken to an unknown area, local media reported.
The lawmaker’s daughter, Yafa Jarrar, said their house was surrounded by more than 70 Israeli soldiers who arrived in 12 military vehicles.
“My mom, Khalida Jarrar, was arrested from our house in Ramallah moments ago. Isreali occupation forces raided our home with over 70 soldiers and around 12 military vehicles. Mom and sister were asleep when they approached,” she posted on her Twitter account.
The Middle East Eye quoted another daughter of Jarara, Suha, as saying that she was detained in one of the rooms of the house away from her mother.
“Before my mother was arrested they confiscated her identity card and took her mobile phone,” Suha said, noting that the Zionist authorities’ “goal is to rob from us our stability and our lives, and to keep us living in a state of anxiety and waiting, but we know very well that it is an occupation, and we believe that we will not break in spite of everything they do.”
Suha, meanwhile, voiced concerns over the health of her mother, noting that she suffers from several diseases and is taking blood thinners, cholesterol and stomach medications.
This is the fourth time that Israeli authorities have detained Khalida Jarrar, according to her family. The lawmaker’s latest release from Israeli prison was last February after she spent 20 months in “administrative detention” – a form of internment where an individual is held without trial or charge.
Jarrar is a longtime advocate for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners and has served as the former vice chair and executive director of Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer.
There are currently seven Palestinian politicians imprisoned in Israeli jails – five held under administrative detention.
Source: Agencies
