Israeli intelligence officer arrested after year-long affair with Palestinian
An Israeli intelligence officer is under investigation by Israeli authorities after she was arrested twice in the occupied West Bank and subsequently admitted to having an affair with a Palestinian in Ramallah.
Channel 12 journalist Omri Maniv reported on Tuesday that a female soldier in a classified position within Israel's military intelligence directorate had been detained and investigated over the weekend.
On Saturday, the woman was arrested by Palestinian police in Ramallah and later transferred to Israeli police.
Just one hour later, she was once again caught in the West Bank city and re-arrested by Palestinian police, who again transferred her to Israeli authorities.
Israeli police established that the woman was an intelligence officer - in a classified position - working in the office of the head of the military's Information Security Department.
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An investigation was subsequently opened by the military, according to Channel 12.
The woman initially said she went to buy drugs, but later admitted that she had been having an affair with a Palestinian from Ramallah for around a year.
Since war broke out on 7 October, the Palestinian man - along with all Palestinians in the West Bank - have been barred from entering Israel, and so the two have met secretly in Ramallah.
The woman was detained for three days by Israel's defence ministry on suspicion of "exceeding her authority to the point of harming the security of the state".
She was released on Monday but remained under restrictions pending further investigations.
Channel 12 reported that security motives had been ruled out of the probe, and the investigation had been transferred to the military prosecutor's office.
"In today's Israel love is also a crime, if we are talking about Arabs and Jews," Channel 12 reporter Mohammad Magadli wrote on X, reacting to the story.
Since 7 October, Israeli forces have stepped up large-scale raids in towns and cities in the West Bank, including Ramallah.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Society said this week that at least 9,280 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli forces in the West Bank since the war began.
More than 500 Palestinians in the West Bank, including over 120 children, have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers over the same period.
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