A Christian Palestinian student has been ordered to stay in prison until September in a recent hearing to her case.
Natalie Abu Dayyeh, a 21-year-old Christian university student, has now spent nearly two months in Israeli detention.
Abu Dayyeh is a media and journalism student at Birzeit University and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Beit Jala. She was arrested at gunpoint in a pre-dawn raid on student housing near Birzeit University on 2 June, along with three other Palestinian women.
The Israeli military said the four women detained were suspected of "promoting terrorist activities" but no specific act, organisation, or evidence has been publicly put forward beyond that, and no formal charges have been brought. Natalie also plays for Diyar Women and has represented the Palestinian national women's football team at youth and senior levels.
At a military court hearing this week, a judge ordered that Natalie remain in prison until 23 September, when she will face another hearing. Israeli authorities have refused all requests for bail, and have denied her family and church any contact or visitation.
Writing in the Independent Catholic News Bishop Dr Imad Haddad, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land wrote:
"Israeli authorities have denied all the family's requests to have Natalie released on bail for the duration of the proceedings and have refused to allow them to visit or contact Natalie in any way. They are exhausted, troubled, and losing hope."
He added that he was "devastated and outraged" that weeks of advocacy have gone unheard, and that Natalie remains at Damon Prison, where inmates have reported serious human rights violations.
He also warned that it reflects a wider pattern of pressure on Palestinian Christian students as fellow Birzeit student Layan Nasir was released last month after her third detention, having previously served eight months for "university activism".
Four Church of England bishops have separately written to Bishop Haddad, calling Natalie's detention a violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which requires occupied people to be detained within occupied territory.
Bishop Haddad said Natalie's case underscores the plight of thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli detention without charge or trial.
He urged the global Church to keep praying and advocating for Natalie's release, quoting Luke 4:18: "He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners... to set the oppressed free."