ISRAEL has detained two players on Palestine women's national team.
Two team members, Rand Halawani and Natalie Abu Dayeh, were taken from Palestine by Israeli authorities, the Palestine Football Association (FA) has said in a statement.
The Palestine FA confirmed that 20-year-old Halwani is being held for prolonged detention by Israeli authorities, after being summoned for questioning in West Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Abu Diyeh was taken by Israel in her student accommodation at Birzeit University, alongside three other Palestinian women in Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
A statement from the Palestine FA said: “Their arrest is not an isolated incident, it is part of a well-documented pattern of systemic targeting of Palestinian athletes, which continues without accountability”.
“If Fifa is to uphold its own statutes, which commit to human rights, non-discrimination and the protection of the game’s integrity, then decisive measures must be taken. Accountability cannot remain optional, nor can it be applied selectively."
According to news outlet Her Football Hub, the Israeli authorities have claimed that the athletes are "promoting terrorist activities and additional terrorist-related activities", a common charge brought against civilians by Israel.
Birzeit University, located near Ramallah in the West Bank, denounced the arrests, saying they are a part of Israel's "systemic policies targeting Palestinian education and students' right to continue their academic journey".
Israel has a long-documented record of athleticide – the systematic obliteration of sports and athletic cultures – in Gaza and the West Bank.
Earlier this year, the Palestinian Olympic Committee said that at least 1007 Palestinian sportspeople have been killed by Israel during the country's brutal onslaught of Gaza, which a UN commission has determined amounts to genocide.
At least 45 of those to have been killed by Israel were women.
A total of 265 sports facilities are believed to have been damaged by Israel across the Gaza Strip, 184 of which have been completely destroyed and 81 which have been partially damaged.
Fifa has been contacted for comment.
