RAMALLAH: The Israeli army on Tuesday said it arrested senior Palestinian politician Kha­lida Jarrar in the occupied West Bank, along with other activists of her leftist party.

Jarrar, 60, is a prominent figure in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a faction in the Palestine Liberation Organisation considered a “terrorist” group by Israel, the United States and the European Union.

“Khaleda Jarrar was arrested... along with other PFLP activists,” the army said in a statement.

Jarrar had been previously arrested by Israeli forces in October 2019 and released in September the following year, after being held without trial.

Her husband, Ghassan Jarrar, said soldiers stormed the family home in the city of Ramallah “by breaking open the front door at 5am”. Jarrar was elected in 2006 to the Palestinian assembly as a PFLP representative, and has long been an advocate of women’s rights.

She has also lobbied for the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

The PFLP, in a statement, said Israel’s army launched a “vast campaign on Tuesday morning to arrest leaders” of the group in the occupied West Bank.

“These arrests will not break the will of our people,” it said. Israeli forces have stepped up their operations across the West Bank in recent years, and violence there has risen particularly since October 7.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2023