West Bank Resident Arrested for Peeping in Women's Restroom at Tel Aviv Beach Restaurant

Early Monday morning at around 2:30 AM, Sharaf Abu Diya, a West Bank resident staying illegally in Israel, was arrested on suspicion of entering the women's restroom at a restaurant on Bograshov Beach in Tel Aviv and peeping at a female customer inside a stall. The woman reported that Abu Diya not only looked at her but also smiled and pushed his head into the stall. Police officers who arrived at the scene detained him, and during interrogation, he claimed he had entered the women's restroom by mistake.

The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court extended Abu Diya's detention by three days, citing reasonable suspicion of offenses including illegal stay in Israel and invasion of privacy. The court noted ongoing investigative needs and the suspect's potential danger, which justified continued detention rather than release on bail. The police requested a five-day extension, emphasizing the suspect's risk.

Abu Diya's defense attorney argued that his client was heavily intoxicated at the time, mistakenly entered the restroom, immediately realized the error, and did not engage with the complainant in a harmful manner. The lawyer also claimed the police had not collected all possible witness testimonies and that conditions for release could have been set instead of detention. Abu Diya himself denied any wrongdoing, stating, "I came by mistake. I have never done this in my life." Judge Ravit Peleg Bar Dayan ruled that the evidence supported reasonable suspicion and that the suspect posed a danger that could not be mitigated by alternatives to detention, thus ordering the three-day extension.