Israel Deports Italian Activist Linked to Palestinian Terror Group

Israel deported an Italian woman who was arrested during a counterterror raid on Monday, the Shin Bet confirmed in a statement on Tuesday.

Stefania Costantini was arrested when Israeli soldiers raided the Dheisheh refugee camp near Beit Lechem on Monday and was sent back to Italy the same day.

According to the Shin Bet, Costantini was in contact with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). She entered Israel on a tourist visa in May. Italian media reports said Constantini is in her 50s.

The agency said in a statement on Tuesday that “Costantini was summoned in September 2022 for interrogation by the Shin Bet, but she did not report, and even continued her activities for the terrorist organization.”

The raid on Dheisheh, a U.N.-administered refugee camp, was part of an ongoing Israeli sweep against terror groups in Yehudah and Shomron that has thwarted more than 500 Palestinian terror attacks.

The PFLP has been designated as a terror organization by Israel, the U.S., European Union, Canada and Australia, among other countries.

Its most notable attacks include the 1976 Entebbe hijacking, the 2001 assassination of Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze’evi, Hy”d, and the 2014 Har Nof shul massacre.