Occupied West Bank: Sibling journalists and captives of Israeli authorities

For the Amarneh family, journalism became a way to document the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. But this work has landed Islam Amarneh, her brother Osayd Amarneh, and their cousin Moath Amarneh in Israeli jails. While Moath Amarneh has been released, the family's other two journalists remain imprisoned, without trial.

Islam Amarneh, the latest victim of this persecution by Israeli authorities, has been imprisoned for more than two months. On the night of 3 May, the 31-year-old journalist and a contributor to the Palestinian feminist news network Nawa was arrested at her father's home in the Dheisheh refugee camp, south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. Her reporting equipment was confiscated during the raid. That night, Israeli soldiers burst into the home at around 3:30 a.m. They immediately separated Islam Amarneh for questioning, while the rest of the family was held in another room. The brutality of the scene continues to traumatize the journalist's 5-year-old daughter. "The scene of the arrest remains etched in her memory, and she talks about it constantly," Abdel Majed Amarneh, Islam Amarneh's father, told RSF.

Targeted for her work, transferred to Damon

Following her arrest, Islam Amarneh underwent a series of interrogations regarding her journalistic work, some of which were conducted without her lawyer present. A month later, on 1 June, she was transferred to the women's section of Damon Prison in northern Israel. Amnesty International has documented the Israeli Prison Service's degrading treatment of Palestinian women at this detention center, such as the confiscation of sanitary products.

According to RSF data, the arrest of journalists in the occupied West Bank has surged since 7 October 2023. Of the 19 Palestinian journalists from the West Bank currently held by Israeli authorities, 15 were detained after that date. This crackdown is being carried out through the massive and widespread use of "administrative detention," as highlighted by the Israeli human rights organization HaMoked. This practice, which is legal in Israel, allows authorities to imprison Palestinian citizens without charge or trial on the supposed grounds of "national security." Additionally, three other Palestinian journalists from the Gaza Strip are being held by Israeli authorities.

One released, another sees detention extended

Those grounds have been used to justify the arbitrary imprisonment of journalist Osayd Amarneh for more than 10 months. A photojournalist for the Palestinian news site Al-Jarmaq News, he was arrested by Israeli authorities at his home east of Bethlehem on 27 August 2025 and has been held at Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank near Ramallah. He saw his detention extended by six months only three days after the arrest of his sister, Islam Amarneh.

The month prior to this extension, on 9 April, their cousin and freelance press photographer, Moath Amarneh, who contributes to local and international agencies, was released by Israeli authorities after spending seven months and 20 days behind bars due to his work as a reporter.

Osayd Amarneh's detention is due to end on 27 August, but his family fears it will be extended once again. "There is no safety, no safe place; all Palestinians are vulnerable," the journalist's father said. "Journalists are part of this reality."