The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) said on Tuesday that it had deported an Italian activist Stefania Costantini to Italy after its paramilitary forces detained her during a raid in the West Bank accusing her of having links to a Palestinian resistance group.
Israeli forces kidnaped Costantini after raiding at dawn homes belonging to journalist Nidhal Abu Akr (prisoner) and his family last Monday in al-Deheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem.
Footage shared on social media shows an Israeli soldier picking up Costantini and flipping her over his shoulders as she shrieks before a group of soldiers drag her out of the camp and shove her into a military vehicle.
Israeli forces fatally shot a 14-year-old boy in the head during the same raid when they fired live ammunition at Palestinian youths throwing stones.
Italian media described Costantini as an advocate for Palestinian rights but Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence service claimed she was arrested on suspicion of collaborating with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) a noted Palestinian resistance faction.
The Shin Bet added Costantini arrived in Israel on May 2 last year on a tourist visa and was summoned for interrogation last September about her alleged involvement with the PFLP but she did not report to authorities and continued her activities.
She was deported on Monday afternoon according to a statement by the Israeli interior ministry.
The COBAS leftist labor union in Pisa Italy to which Costantini belongs condemned her arrest and deportation describing her as a human rights activist working with students with disabilities and defending those whose rights are denied.
