18 December, 2025
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New York-based Irene Cho and Boston-based Trudi Frost, who were arrested by Israeli forces last Friday, remain in custody at the Givon prison after Israeli courts have summarily denied all their appeals while refusing to examine the evidence proving they have committed no offense. They are expected to be deported later tonight from Ben Gurion airport.
Cho and Frost were arrested on Friday, December 12, in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyer while staying with the Abu Hamam family, which is threatened with forced displacement by military and settler violence. Their visas were revoked through a summary procedure, with officials refusing to review evidence of the illegality of the arrest. An appeal of the revocation was then rejected yesterday, December 17, ignoring the legal defects in the decision to deport them, including the fact that their arrest was without merit as they were not within the bounds of the military area they were asked to leave. An urgent request for an injunction temporarily preventing deportation was rejected tonight, rendering the appeal against the initial decision to deport them void and null.
Their lawyer, Alon Sapir said today that “Israel decided to deport Irene and Trudi from the country on the basis of erroneous information provided by the police. Since they did not violate a closed military zone order as claimed, the deportation decision too must be annulled. The decision to deport them is motivated by improper political considerations, attempting to silence international criticism of Israel.”
The US Embassy visited Cho and Frost yesterday, on their sixth day of being held in custody. Cho and Frost’s local representatives are aware of the situation and are following up on the case.
Cho and Frost were arrested at the al-Khalayel area of al-Mughayyer, north-east of Ramallah, while standing in solidarity against the forced displacement of the Abu Hamam family. The arrest took place after Israeli forces claimed to present a month-long military order sealing the area. The area marked as off limits in the map accompanying the order, however, did not include the Abu Hamam residence – making their detention unlawful (see images below). In contrast, the closed area does include the outpost from which Israeli settlers regularly set out to terrorize the family. Despite that fact, Israeli forces did not take any steps to enforce the order against the settlers, who continue to harass and assault the family undisturbed, often with the cooperation of Israeli armed forces.
In a statement prior to her arrest, Frost said she was motivated to volunteer with ISM because “the ethnic cleansing happening in Palestine goes against international law and against humanity.” Cho described her admiration for “the long legacy of protective presence and the collective efforts to reduce settler violence.”
Frost and Cho were held illegally on Saturday, December 13, as their detention prior to being brought before an immigration officer extended for several hours beyond the legal limit of 24 hours. During the hearing, the officer refused to examine the maps accompanying the order, and which prove their detention was arbitrary and without cause, as well as politically motivated. In further infringement of due process, Israeli authorities prevented the lawyer representing the two from attending the interview for several hours, before conceding it is their legal right to have legal representation.
Following their illegal detention, the two were questioned for obstructing a police officer and for being in violation of lawful direction. They were then transferred to the Neve Tirza maximum security prison before being moved to Ben Gurion for a deportation interview.
The Abu Hamam family has been the target of ceaseless harassment and assault at the hands of Israeli settlers and armed forces for over a year in an attempt to drive them away from their lands. Over the past week these attempts have escalated drastically, with near daily attacks.
Last Sunday, December 7, 2025, a settler attack on the family took place in coordination with a military raid on the village, which prevented residents and medics to come to the family’s help. The attack resulted in the injuries of the family’s matriarch, 59-year-old Fadda Abu Naim, 13-year-old Riziq Abu Naim, as well as two UK nationals, a Colombian-American and a French national. On the following day, Monday December 8, settlers dismantled Palestinian owned corrugated metal sheds under the protection of the military. On Wednesday, December 10, a military force raided the family’s property, presenting a 24-hour military zone order, and arrested a US and an Australian national who were later released. Friday saw the unlawful arrest of Cho and Frost, while several military raids took place on Saturday and Sunday, as the forces looked for solidarity activists. Meanwhile, settlers are allowed to roam the area, attacking and harassing Palestinian communities completely undisturbed.
These attacks by settlers and soldiers are intended to forcibly displace the Abu Hamam family from their land as part of the implementation of the Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. In this case, displacing the family will also allow Israel to create a line of settlements and settlement outposts all the way from the East Ramallah area to the South Nablus area, and from there to the Jordan Valley.