Israel Releases American Palestinian Journalist and Keeps 36 Journalists Detained

Ramallah - Afaq News - The Israeli authorities released today, Monday, the Palestinian-American journalist Naqa Hamid (37 years old) on bail, reducing the number of Palestinian journalists detained in Israeli prisons to 36, including 4 female journalists.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club stated that Hamid's release came on a bail of 8,000 shekels (about 2,500 dollars), according to her lawyer Khaled Muhajna.

The club clarified that Israeli forces arrested Hamid on September 15, at a military checkpoint in the town of Tekoa in Bethlehem Governorate.

It added that Hamid, who is from the town of Beitin east of Ramallah and holds American citizenship, is married and a mother of three children.

According to the club, the number of detained journalists in Israeli prisons has decreased to 36 after her release, including 4 female journalists: Bushra Al-Tawil, Farah Abu Ayash, Islam Ammarna, and Natali Abu Dia.

He pointed out that the number of Palestinian female prisoners in Israeli jails is about 90, amid the ongoing arrests of Palestinian women and the harsh detention conditions that he described, including isolation, abuse, deprivation of visits, and basic rights.

The club stated that Palestinian journalists are subjected to arrest, pursuit, investigation, administrative detention, and isolation, in addition to restrictions on their work and being targeted while performing their journalistic duties.

He added that since October 7, 2023, the arrests have included a number of journalists who are still in custody, while some are under administrative detention without trial or clear charges, based on what is called a 'secret file.'

The Prisoners' Club considered that targeting journalists comes as part of ongoing policies to restrict their ability to carry out their work, report facts, and document violations, calling on international human rights organizations to take responsibility for them and ensure their protection and enable them to perform their work.

Since Israel began its war on Gaza on October 8, 2023, journalists have faced significant difficulties in continuing their media tasks, starting from threats and incitement against them, to their arrest and killing.

In August 2026, the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate recorded 84 violations against journalists committed by Israeli forces and settlers, including the killing of a journalist inside prisons and the injury of another by gunfire, in addition to arrests, detentions, obstruction of media crews' work, and targeting their equipment, according to the Syndicate's Freedoms Committee.

The committee considered that these assaults come within the framework of a "systematic policy aimed at restricting the freedom of journalistic work, preventing the transmission of truth, and documenting the crimes and violations committed against the Palestinian people."