Israeli detention, house arrest keep Palestinian women’s footballer Rand al-Halawani away from field

• Despite al-Halawani’s release, Palestinian former squad player Natalie Abu Diya remains in Israeli detention

Palestinian female football player Rand al-Halawani did not expect a summon for questioning to turn into a week of detention and a house arrest order, making her one of the latest athletes to find herself away from the field and subject to strict Israeli measures.

Israeli authorities released Halawani, 20, on Monday after nearly a week in detention and placed her under house arrest for five days.

Halawani is considered one of the most prominent rising talents in Palestinian female football. She played for Sareyyet Ramallah and represented age-group national teams before reaching the women’s national team.

She had her first professional experience outside Palestine in 2025 when she joined Jordan’s Nashama al-Mustaqbal sports club academy and helped it win the Jordanian under-19 female league title.

But her sports career was temporarily halted after she was summoned last Tuesday to the Talpiot police station in west Jerusalem for questioning before Israeli authorities arrested her and referred her to a court, which extended her detention before her release.

“Israeli police placed my daughter under house arrest for five days,” her mother, Wissam al-Halawani, said.

The family lived through “difficult times” during her daughter’s detention, Wissam added upon the footballer’s release, expressing happiness that she returned home after days of anxiety and waiting.

Despite Halawani’s release, former squad player Natalie Abu Diya remains in detention after Israeli forces arrested her last week during a raid on her home in Ramallah.

Unprecedented escalation

The cases of Halawani and Abu Diya come amid escalating targeting of women, female university students and women athletes since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, Palestinian institutions say.

“There has been an unprecedented and continuing escalation in the targeting of girls and female university students,” Palestinian Prisoner Society President Abdullah Zghari told Anadolu.

More than 10 girls were arrested in recent weeks and questioned over issues related to what Israeli authorities call “incitement,” Zghari said, adding that such accusations have been increasingly used since the start of the Gaza war.

“Halawani’s arrest and subsequent house arrest fall within broader Israeli policies that have affected hundreds of Palestinian men and women,” Zghari said.

“House arrest is no less dangerous than prison as the families are turned into monitoring bodies and face major financial and legal obligations if the terms of the order are violated,” he added.

“Families become directly responsible for enforcing the conditions of house arrest, including preventing the person from leaving home, creating psychological, social and economic pressure on the entire family,” Zghari said.

“Such measures amount to a form of punishment that affects both the detainee and the family,” Zghari said, urging the international community to assume its responsibilities toward the continued Israeli violations against Palestinians.

Systematic targeting

According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society, the number of Palestinian women held in Israeli prisons has reached 95, a figure close to the highest levels recorded since the start of the war on Gaza.

“The arrests of Halawani and Abu Diya are not an isolated incident, but part of a systematic targeting of Palestinian athletes,” the Palestinian Football Association said.

Association spokesperson Dima Youssef earlier told Anadolu the arrest of Palestinian footballers represent “a clear violation of FIFA regulations and the principles that guarantee the protection of athletes.”

“The association plans to follow up on the case internationally and document it as part of violation files submitted to specialized sports bodies,” Youssef said.

More than 1,000 members of Palestinian federations, clubs and sports and scouting institutions have been killed by Israeli fire since October 2023, in addition to the destruction of hundreds of sports facilities, according to Palestinian Football Association data.

Although Halawani regained her freedom after a week in detention, the house arrest imposed on her and the continued detention of her teammate Abu Diya keep the case open for Palestinian sports and rights institutions, which view what happened as part of a series of violations that have affected the Palestinian sports movement in recent years.

*Writing by Lina Altawell in Istanbul