Israel arrests Arab actress for ‘incitement’ over Hamas attack

By Abdel-Rauf Arnaut

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli police detained Arab actress Maisa Abd Elhadi on Tuesday for allegedly supporting a cross-border attack by Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

A police statement said the actress was arrested in the northern city of Nazareth “on suspicion of expressions of praise (for Hamas) and hate speech.”

“The police fight against incitement and support for terrorism continues all the time,” it said.

Police accused the actress of sharing an image of an elderly Israeli woman being taken hostage by Hamas with laughing emojis and another image of Hamas fighters breaching Israel’s security barrier with the caption in English: “Let’s go, Berlin style.”

There was no comment from Abd Elhadi’s lawyer.

Israel has arrested several Israeli-Arabs on charges of incitement for allegedly supporting the Hamas attack.

Israel has launched relentless airstrikes on the Gaza Strip following an attack Oct. 7 by Hamas.

The Israeli army confirmed that at least 222 Israelis were taken captive by Hamas during the attack.

More than 7,100 people have been killed in the conflict, including at least 5,791 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis.