By Abdel Raouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli police arrested Mohammad Baraka, the head of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel, and two former parliamentarians on Thursday on charges of attempting to organize a protest against the war on Gaza.
The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens is a community-based organization that serves as the highest representative body for Palestinians in Israel.
According to eyewitnesses, police arrested Baraka, also a former member of Israel's parliament or Knesset, in the city of Nazareth and took him to a police station.
The police arrested Baraka from his vehicle in Nazareth, the human rights organization Adalah said in a statement.
Baraka was on his way to a protest rally in the city against the war and was taken for questioning at the old police station in the northern city of Nof Hagalil, the statement said.
It added that the police on the same grounds have also arrested Deputy Secretary-General of the National Democratic Alliance Yusuf Tatoor, former Knesset members Hanin Zoabi and Sami Abu Shahada, and member of the High Follow-Up Committee Mahmoud Mawassi, from the city’s Ein Square.
The Israeli police, however, said in a statement that Baraka was detained for questioning because he “attempted, contrary to the police's instructions, to organize a protest that could lead to incitement and harm public peace.”
Police emphasized that they “will not allow any attempt to violate public peace or incite, and will take strict measures against anyone trying to do so.”
Israel has launched incessant air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.
At least 10,812 Palestinians, including 4,412 children and 2,918 women, have been killed since then. The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is nearly 1,600, according to official figures.
Besides the large number of casualties, massive displacements, and thousands of buildings razed to the ground, basic supplies are running low for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents due to the Israeli siege.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala