The Bishop of Chelmsford says she is “devastated” that a Palestinian Christian woman, previously held by Israeli forces for eight months and released, has now been sentenced to another eight months in prison by an Israeli court.

Layan Nasir, a member of St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Birzeit, was first imprisoned in 2021 and then taken back into detention after a dawn raid in April 2024.

She was held under a system known as “administrative detention,” in which people can be taken into custody without evidence being presented against them. She was eventually released in December.

The charges are believed to relate to alleged “student activism” that was designated unlawful by Israeli authorities.

In August of this year, the bishops of Chelmsford, Southwark, Norwich, and Gloucester wrote a letter of support for Layan, saying: “We can only imagine the anxiety and stress that you are feeling, and we want to reassure you that you and your family are very much in our thoughts and prayers.

“It would be a travesty if your rehabilitation and reintegration back into society were interrupted by a further custodial sentence on a spurious charge from over four years ago. We earnestly pray that a plea deal can be negotiated with the court that avoids such an outcome.”

Rt. Rev. Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford, spent time with Layan’s family during a visit to the Holy Land last year. Since then, she has kept a candle burning in her chapel and pledged to pray for Layan every day until her release.

Responding to news of Layan’s prison sentence, Bishop Guli said: “This is devastating news for Layan and her family. I invite everyone in the Chelmsford Diocese to join me in praying for her release and for an end to this injustice, which is all the more bitter against the backdrop of the encouraging news about today’s Gaza peace deal.”