Israel Releases American Palestinian Journalist and Keeps 36 Journalists Detained

Ramallah - Afaq News - Israeli authorities released today, Monday, Palestinian-American journalist Naqa Hamad (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 Hamad'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 Hamad on September 15 at a military checkpoint in the town of Teqoa in the Bethlehem governorate.

It added that Hamad, 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 journalists detained 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 Daya.

He pointed out that the number of Palestinian female prisoners in Israeli jails is about 90, amid ongoing arrests of Palestinian women and the accompanying harsh detention conditions, which include 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, several journalists have been arrested and 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 the targeting of journalists comes as part of ongoing policies to restrict their ability to perform their work, convey facts, and document violations, calling on international human rights organizations to take responsibility for them and ensure their protection and enable them to carry out 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, which included 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."