Five Italian women detained in West Bank return home after Israeli expulsion

Detention near Hebron

Israeli forces detained five Italian women on Thursday, 22 October, in the village of al-Bweib, south of Hebron, while they were helping Palestinian farmers with the olive harvest. The women were international volunteers in the West Bank to provide active protection to farmers during a period marked by tension, settler attacks and movement restrictions. Police took them to the station at the Kiryat Arba settlement, where they were questioned and their mobile phones were taken away. Other international volunteers were held with them. Israeli forces had earlier detained about 90 volunteers on 21 October, among them Brad Lander, a Democratic candidate for the US Congress, who was released shortly afterwards with dozens of others under strict movement restrictions.

A separate case on 20 October involved a father and son from Bolzano, aged 67 and 35, who were held on a terrorism accusation. The pair had travelled to the West Bank to deliver humanitarian funds and support the harvest. After several hours in police custody they were expelled, with a ten-year ban on re-entering Israel.

Italian response

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called the arrest unacceptable and said the women were not committing any crime. He made the remarks in Istanbul, where he was attending a meeting on the Middle East. Tajani linked the detentions to the announced plan by Benjamin Netanyahu to close the entire West Bank after an attack that killed two IDF soldiers. He argued that Israel's security cannot be secured by striking the Palestinian population, particularly the peaceful Christian villages. Tajani said Rome was calling for the women to be freed.

We are asking for their immediate release. We hope they can be sent back to Italy in the coming hours.

Consular access and return

The Italian embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem stayed in contact with Israeli authorities about the expulsion, which came after a step at the immigration authority. Embassy officials made a consular visit at the airport on the evening of Friday, 23 October, and found the women in good physical condition. During that visit the women were allowed to use their mobile phones, and each of them spoke with her lawyer at least once. The Farnesina said the five women were brought back to Italy on the morning of Saturday, 24 October.

Wider pressure on volunteers

Settlers attacked the villages of Yabrud and Al Mughayyir in the occupied West Bank and moved their flocks onto Palestinian farmland to damage crops, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Israeli authorities have stepped up detentions, border refusals and expulsions of foreign volunteers who document rights violations and protect Palestinian civilians from settler violence and military operations. Israel accuses those volunteers of fuelling provocations. Olive harvesting in the West Bank has long been a high-risk period for incidents involving settlers and farmers.