Italy demands release of 5 women detained by Israeli army in West Bank

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Friday demanded the immediate release of five Italian women detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, calling their detention unacceptable. “We Italians demand the immediate release of the five Italian women taken by the Israeli army,” Tajani said, according to Italian news agency ANSA. “We hope that they can be sent back to Italy in the next few hours. What happened is unacceptable, they were not committing any crime,” he added. Italy’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Italian activists had been detained in the village of al-Bweib, south of Hebron, while accompanying Palestinian farmers harvesting olives. They were detained alongside other international activists, the ministry said. Italy’s Embassy in Tel Aviv and Consulate-General in Jerusalem immediately contacted Israeli authorities to seek urgent clarification on the circumstances of the detention and the condition of the Italian nationals. The ministry said Thursday that Israeli authorities had confirmed four Italian women were being held at a police station. Tajani referred to five women in his remarks Friday. Italian diplomatic missions were maintaining contact with Israeli authorities to secure a swift resolution, according to the ministry.