Israeli court frees protesters arrested for waving Palestinian flag

Haifa’s Magistrate’s Court said on Friday that two protesters arrested for waving a Palestinian flag would be released, after finding that it "might hurt the feelings of those who see it" was not reason to stop the protest.

The two women protesters were arrested by police on suspicion of "behaviour liable to breach public space".

The police who arrested them added that the protest was an "illegal demonstration," Israeli media reported.

"Waving a Palestinian flag in certain situations in which there is concern of a breach of public order gives the Israel Police the authority to lower [the flag]," the police representative said at the hearing.

The protesters’ representative, Hadil Abu Salah, who was advocating for them on behalf of the Adalah rights group, noted there was a difference between lowering the flag and arresting them.

However, the police claimed that they made the arrest after police allegedly were "obstructed in carrying out his duty".

A video shown by Salah showed the incident, and the judge concluded that "no resistance or anything like that is seen in the video of the incident".

The judge, Avishay Kaufman, rejected the police’s motion to extend the two protesters’ detention by five days, adding that waving the Palestinian flag is not grounds for arrest or forcing the protest to come to an end.

The protest, which the two women participated in, was made up of around three other people and coincided with a larger protest taking place nearby.

Kaufman added that because the protest was made up of five or fewer people, the protest did not require a permit and was not illegal.

He further said the video shown at the hearing shows "police officers arriving at the scene, taking the flag, and immediately arresting the participants".

The judge went on to denounce the police’s behaviour, saying that police only have the right to stop a protest and carry out arrests if there is genuine danger liable to occur and noted that the danger must be clear.

At least 12 other anti-war protesters were arrested at the nearby protest on Friday, with police violently cracking down on those who were waving signs condemning the forced starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.

Since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023, there has been a sharp uptick in arrests of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as well as Palestinian citizens of Israel. This includes the arbitrary arrests of children.

As of May 2025, Israeli forces had detained at least 12,000 Palestinians from the Strip, with many of them held in makeshift detention centres or taken to unknown locations.