Mother of Palestinian prisoner seized again as home demolished by occupation forces

Israeli occupation forces are now seeking to prosecute Ibtisam al-Abed, the mother of Omar al-Abed, 19, on the same day that they demolished her family home. Omar, from the village of Kobar outside Ramallah, carried out a Palestinian resistance attack in the illegal settlement of Halamesh which killed three settlers.

Since that time, his village and his family have come under repeated revenge attacks by Israeli occupation forces, including the arrest of his father, mother, brother and uncle. While his mother and uncle were earlier released on bail of 10,000 NIS ($3,000 USD) each, his mother, father and brother were once again seized today.  Omar al-Abed is also currently imprisoned by the Israeli occupation.

At the same time, on 16 August, Israeli occupation forces demolished Ibtisam and Omar’s home as over 15 military units invaded the village with two destructive bulldozers in the early hours of the morning. As the occupation forces invaded and attacked the village, they wounded photographer Mohammed Radi, shooting him in the head with rubber-coated metal bullets.

Issa Qaraqe, chair of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Commission, denounced the arrest of Ibtisam al-Abed and her family, noting that it is part of a policy of collective punishment against the Palestinian people.