Israel releases two Jerusalem women under strict conditions

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court released on Thursday two women from Jerusalem under strict conditions.

Head of the Jerusalem Committee for Families of Prisoners Amjad Abu Assab said  the court has sentenced Hanadi Halwani and Khadija Khoweis, both school teachers at a school inside the al- Aqsa Mosque compound to 14 days under house arrest, to ban their entry into the Al-Aqsa Mosque for two months and to ban their travel into the West Bank for six months.

The Israeli court has also sentenced them to pay around $1400 in bail, he added.

Khoweis was arrested when she appeared at the Maskobiyeh police station for interrogation on September, 6. Later she was transferred to a solitary cell in Ramle prison where she lived in difficult conditions.

Lawyer Khaled Zabarqa said in a previous court hearing that Khoweis has informed him that the Israeli forces confiscate her hijab and long dress and would give it to her only during her appearance at the court.

Read: Israel has arrested 110,000 Palestinians since Oslo Accords

Halwani was arrested from her home in the Wadi al-Joz neighbourhood in Jerusalem on September, 17.

Khoweis and Halwani are known for their activism in defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque from settlers incursions. They were arrested, assaulted and investigated several times.

Israel imprisons 64 Palestinian women including 23 prisoners from Jerusalem.