Israel arrests Palestinian rights lawyer after anti-Abbas protest

Independent Commission for Human Rights says Farid al-Atrash was arrested at an Israeli checkpoint east of Jerusalem.

A Palestinian human rights lawyer has been arrested by Israeli forces after taking part in a protest in the occupied West Bank against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, his rights group said. The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) said in a statement that Farid al-Atrash was arrested early on Sunday at an Israeli checkpoint east of Jerusalem while returning from a protest against the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah, where the PA is based. It said al-Atrash was transferred to Israel’s Hadassah Hospital and called for his immediate release from Israeli police custody.