Four Church of England bishops have expressed “deep dismay and disquiet” over the arrest of another Palestinian Christian student in the West Bank.

Natalie Abu Dayyeh, who was studying at Birzeit University was arrested and detained on 2nd June for allegedly promoting terrorist activities.

Last month, another Christian student, Layan Nasir was released from Israeli detention after her third time in prison for charges which were described as unclear.

In a letter to Dr Imad Haddad, the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, the bishops of Chelmsford, Gloucester, Norwich, and Southwark said Natalie's detention was a “violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which says protected people under occupation should be detained in the occupied territory.”

Dr Haddad described the 21-year-old, as a “beloved youth in the church community” and said he was incredibly disturbed that she would now join thousands of Palestinians in Israeli detention without charge or trial.

The bishops said they would renew their call on the Israeli government “to abolish its punitive practice of administrative detention, immediately release Natalie and all those detainees it presently holds, and strictly follow international law in the application of its security operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Acknowledging that exact details surrounding the circumstances of the arrest were unclear, the bishops said that their efforts “praying for and advocating for the release of Layan Nasir, that incarcerating people who have not been convicted or even charged with anything for lengthy periods of time, based on secret ‘evidence’ that they cannot challenge, is an extreme power and one that inflicts incredible torment and suffering on the detained and their family.”

Assuring Natalie’s family of their thoughts and prayers, the bishops - Guli Francis-Dehqani, Rachel Treweek, Graham Usher and Christopher Chessun - said they would also continue to raise their concerns in the House of Lords.