Israeli forces detain five Palestinian women in predawn West Bank raids
Israeli security forces detained five Palestinian women across the occupied West Bank early Wednesday, including a board member of a prominent health charity, according to families and Palestinian rights groups. The raids targeted multiple cities including Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus and Bethlehem.
Abdelrahman Badr said Israeli forces came to his Hebron home shortly after 1 a.m. and demanded his wife, Itaf Badr, who serves on the board of the Union of Health Work Committees. She was taken away for questioning, he said, blindfolded and handcuffed before being driven off in a military vehicle.
Growing number of women in Israeli detention
The number of Palestinian women and girls held in Israeli detention has more than doubled since the start of the Israel-Hamas war and increased 80 percent since the beginning of 2026, according to data from Hamoked, an Israeli rights group. As of early June, 99 women were in detention, with 15 arrested since June 1, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club.
Abdullah Al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, said gender is no longer a distinguishing factor in who Israel targets. Women are being arrested for posting messages on social media critical of Israel's occupation or the war in Gaza, or for involvement in Palestinian political parties' student branches at universities.
Administrative detention and lack of charges
Many women are held under Israel's administrative detention policy, which allows authorities to imprison Palestinians for renewable periods of up to six months without formal charges. In recent weeks, Israeli soldiers arrested at least five other young women, including four members of the Palestinian national soccer team and a 20-year-old Palestinian-American, Sama Safi. The military said they were suspected of “promoting terrorist activities.” At least one has been released; others have not been charged.
Safi's arrest drew criticism from several US senators demanding her immediate release. The Israeli military referred questions about the latest arrests to the Border Police, which said it was checking for information on Itaf Badr's detention but did not explain why she was taken.
Families left in the dark
Relatives of the detained women said they were not told why their loved ones were arrested. In Nablus, Wael Al-Faqih said his wife, Maiser Al-Faqih, a former detainee and former member of the Union of Health Work Committees, was taken from their home after Israeli forces searched him and his son. The charity, which provides medical care in low-income communities, has been accused by Israel of ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Israel designates a terrorist organization. The charity denies the allegations.
“We still don’t know what it was about,” Wael said. Abdelrahman Badr said he believes his wife's charity work put her at risk. He described watching from the window as soldiers shouted at him and his son before taking Itaf away.
