Israel extends detention of Palestinian MP for 6 months

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Israeli authorities on Wednesday extended a Palestinian female lawmaker's administrative detention for six months, according to a Palestinian official.

"An Israeli court today extended Khalida Jarrar's administrative detention for six months," Qaddura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, told Anadolu Agency.

In June 2017, Israeli soldiers arrested Jarrar after raiding her home in the West Bank city of Ramallah. She was later slapped with a six-month jail term by an Israeli court.

Jarrar was charged with having committed a number of "security offenses," including membership in the banned Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which Israel considers a "terrorist" group.

Israel's policy of "administrative detention," which allows suspects to be held without trial or charge for renewable six-month periods, predates the establishment of the self-proclaimed Jewish state.

According to official Palestinian statistics, some 6,400 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 500 under administrative detention.