Two women have been arrested for continuously protesting against Israel’s ongoing atrocities in Gaza, marking the first time in the Maldives that arrests have been made for such demonstrations.

A police spokesman confirmed on Wednesday that the arrests were made under a court order. According to the police, the women were detained for allegedly disrupting activities at embassies and the residences of ambassadors in the capital, Malé.

The women, identified by media reports as Aishath Shadhiya, the wife of prominent scholar Dr Mohamed Iyaz, and Dr Shazra Ibrahim, were protesting daily near the British Embassy, the German Embassy, the UN Offices, and the residences of the British and Saudi ambassadors.

This incident comes amid growing public discontent over the government’s failure to follow through on its promise to ban Israeli nationals from entering the country.