“Israeli police arrested Khatib from his home in the Arab village of Kafr Kana [in northern Israel] without providing any reason for his arrest,” lawyer Khaled Zbarqal told Anadolu Agency. 

Khatib is a leading member of the Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens, an extra-parliamentary umbrella organization that represents Israel’s Arab citizens at the national level.

According to Zbarqal, Khatib is currently being held at the main police station in the northern Israeli city of Nazareth.

“We’re now awaiting details of his arrest,” the lawyer said. 

Notably, Khatib also previously served as deputy leader of the Islamic Movement in northern Israel. 

Headed by jailed Palestinian resistance icon Sheikh Raed Salah, the Islamic Movement was officially outlawed by the Israeli authorities in 2015 for allegedly “inciting violence”.