Palestinian footballer Rand Halawani released from Israeli custody

Israeli authorities have released a player from the Palestinian national women’s football team after six days in custody after being summoned by Jerusalem police, her mother said. AFP on Monday.

Wissam Halawani said Israeli police released her 20-year-old daughter Rand Halawani around 8:30 PM (1730 GMT) on Sunday on a five-day house arrest order.

Wissam said AFP that she had “gone through very difficult times in recent days” following her daughter’s detention, and that she now felt “overwhelming joy” after returning home.

Israeli police did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for confirmation of Halawani’s release.

The Palestinian Football Association celebrated Halawani’s release in a statement late on Sunday.

“Rand Halawani breathes freedom… the release of the women’s national team player after her arrest last Tuesday,” the association said in a social media post, accompanied by a poster showing her wearing the red kit of the Palestinian national team.

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Israeli police said last week that Halawani had been arrested along with an 18-year-old man in connection with an incident in Jerusalem in which objects were allegedly thrown from a balcony at protesters marching on a street below.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club, the main rights group for Palestinian prisoners, said in a statement on Monday that the number of female prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention camps has risen to about 95.

It added that “the number of female prisoners is changing daily as a result of ongoing and escalating arrest campaigns in the West Bank, including Jerusalem.”

The number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons stands at around 9,500, according to figures released by the organization last week.

Published on June 8, 2026