BREAKING Ecumenical Church Group and Bishop Call on the US Government for Release of 4 Women Arrested in the West Bank by Israeli Forces
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CMEP is deeply alarmed by the recent arrest and detention of four Palestinian university students by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank
June 5, 2026, Washington D.C. -
Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) is deeply alarmed by the recent arrest and detention of four Palestinian university students by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, including Birzeit University student Natalie Abu Diya, a Palestinian Christian and member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Beit Jala.According to local reports, Israeli forces raided homes in Birzeit and Beitunia before detaining students Natalie Abu Diya, Joulan Abu Awwad, Sama Safi, and Laila Khalil. These arrests are part of a broader and deeply troubling pattern of arbitrary detention and escalating military raids throughout the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Prisoner Society reports that these arrests bring the number of Palestinian women currently held in Israeli prisons to 89. Female detainees continue to face harsh and degrading conditions, including hunger, medical neglect, solitary confinement, repeated assaults, humiliating searches, and overcrowded cells that force many to sleep on the floor.
CMEP joins the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) and Bishop Dr. Imad Haddad in calling for the immediate release of Natalie Abu Diya and all those detained without charge or trial. As Bishop Haddad stated, “Palestinian civilians, including women and children, suffer deep injustice in Israeli military detention and are often held for months or years with no explanation.
Natalie’s arrest is especially painful for Christian communities in Palestine and around the world. A graduate of Talitha Kumi Lutheran School and a Media and Journalism student at Birzeit University, Natalie was taken at gunpoint from her student apartment, while her family was initially left without information regarding her whereabouts. No family should endure such fear and uncertainty.
CMEP is also concerned for Sama Safi, who is an American citizen. The United States government has both a responsibility and an obligation to ensure the safety, legal protections, and human rights of its citizens abroad. At a minimum, U.S. officials must seek immediate information regarding her whereabouts, condition, and legal status, while actively working to ensure that her rights are protected and that she is afforded due process. The arbitrary detention of a U.S. citizen by Israeli forces demands urgent attention and action from the U.S. government.
These arrests highlight the ongoing use of Israel’s system of administrative detention, which permits the imprisonment of Palestinians in the occupied territories without formal charge or trial for renewable periods of detention. This unequal legal system continues to be carried out with near total impunity and has devastated countless Palestinian families and communities.
The scale of these arrests is staggering. According to Palestinian prisoner advocacy organizations, Israeli forces have arrested more than 23,000 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 2023, averaging approximately 40 to 45 arrests every day.
The targeting of university students, journalists, youth leaders, and civilians through military raids and arbitrary detention undermines fundamental human rights, including the rights to education, due process, freedom of expression, and personal dignity.
CMEP calls on the United States government, international institutions, churches, and human rights organizations to urgently advocate for:
- The immediate release of detainees held without charge or trial;
- Protection of Palestinian students and civilians living under occupation;
- Transparency regarding the whereabouts and legal status of detainees;
- Independent monitoring of detention conditions;
- An end to the discriminatory system of administrative detention and military rule imposed on Palestinians in the occupied territories.
About CMEP: Formed in 1984, Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) is a coalition of more than 30 national church communions and organizations, including Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Evangelical traditions that works to encourage US policies that actively promote a comprehensive resolution to conflicts in the Middle East with a focus on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. CMEP works to mobilize US Christians to embrace a holistic perspective and to be advocates of equality, human rights, security, and justice for Israelis, Palestinians, and all people of the Middle East.
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