TEL AVIV: Brad Lander, an ally of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani who is running for the US Congress next month, was among 90 individuals detained by Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday while accompanying Palestinian farmers harvesting olives, according to Rabbis for Human rights, an Israeli rights group.
Lander is a Jewish American and former New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate who has criticized Israel’s war in Gaza. He is the Democratic party’s nominee for New York’s 10th congressional district for the US House of Representatives.
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Earlier, Israeli police said Monday they had arrested 10 people in the West Bank after settler attacks on an American photographer and a French mayor that drew international condemnation but mixed messages from the government.
Police said they raided several locations across the occupied territory and seized cars and potential evidence related to the attacks.
The arrests come as violence increases in the West Bank, with Israeli settlers disrupting the annual olive harvest of Palestinians.
“Following the severe incidents of violence over the past weekend, including the assault of a media worker and the suspected attacks on foreign civilians, an arrest operation was conducted before dawn,” said Major General Moshe Finchi, the Israeli police’s West Bank commander.
“Suspects were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the violent incidents, violating a military commander’s order concerning a closed military zone, and illegal construction,” he said.