JERUSALEM (AP) — In the early hours of Wednesday, Abdelrahman Badr reported hearing footsteps outside his home in Hebron, located in the occupied West Bank. Shortly after, Israeli forces arrived at his door, seeking his wife, Itaf Badr.
Itaf Badr, a board member of a prominent health charity, was taken by the forces for questioning and driven away in the dead of night, as Abdelrahman recounted. She was one of five Palestinian women detained by Israeli security forces across various cities in the West Bank, including Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, and Bethlehem, according to families and Palestinian rights groups.
For much of the history of Israel's occupation, it has primarily been Palestinian men and boys who faced the brunt of military detentions, often for minor offenses like throwing rocks at troops. However, there is a growing trend of more women and girls being arrested. Abdullah Al-Zaghari, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, noted that gender is increasingly less of a distinction when identifying those targeted by Israeli forces—now encompassing political activists and student leaders.
The proportion of women among the approximately 9,300 Palestinians in detention is rising. According to the Israeli rights group Hamoked, the number of Palestinian women and girls in Israeli detention has more than doubled since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war and has increased by 80% since the beginning of 2026. Since June, at least fifteen women have been arrested, bringing the total to 99, as per data from the Prisoners' Club.
Many of these women have been detained for posting messages on social media that criticize Israel's actions in the West Bank or the war in Gaza. Others were involved in political party student branches at their universities. A significant number have been held without formal charges under Israel's administrative detention policy, which permits authorities to detain Palestinians for renewable periods of up to six months.
Last month, Israeli soldiers arrested at least five young women, including four members of the Palestinian national soccer team and 20-year-old Palestinian-American Sama Saif. The military accused these women of "promoting terrorist activities," though at least one has already been released and the others have not been formally charged as per their attorneys. Saif's arrest has sparked criticism from several U.S. senators, who have called for her immediate release.
On Wednesday, inquiries about the arrests in Ramallah and Nablus were referred by the Israeli military to Israel's Border Police, which operates in the West Bank. They stated they were looking into Itaf's arrest in Hebron but did not provide additional comment on the reasons behind her detention.
Families of the detained women expressed uncertainty regarding the reasons for their arrests. In Nablus, Wael al-Faqih revealed that his wife, Maiser al-Faqih, a former detainee with prior involvement in the Union of Health Work Committees, was taken from their home. Israel alleges the group has connections to the designated terrorist organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, claims contested by the charity.
Wael expressed confusion, stating, "We still don’t know what it was about." He recounted how Israeli forces searched him and his son before asking Maiser to don her hijab before her removal. Similarly, Abdelrahman Badr speculated that his wife's charity work placed her at risk, recounting her abduction in detail, where she was first removed from their home and subsequently handcuffed in the street. He noted that he watched helplessly as they shouted at him and his son, blindfolded Itaf, and placed her into a military vehicle.
