On March 25, 2026, Israeli authorities arrested freelance journalist Aysar Barghouthi, who contributes to the Turkish-based Anadolu News Agency and Ultra Palestine, from his home in the village Kafr Ein, northwest of the city of Ramallah in the central West Bank.
His brother, Ashraf, told CPJ that soldiers took Barghouthi out to the street and interrogated him before taking him to an unknown location. The family was informed the following day that Barghouthi was taken to Shaar Binyamin detention center in northern Jerusalem.
On April 1, 2026, the Ofer prison military court ordered Barghouthi to four months of administrative detention.
CPJ emailed the IDF International Press Desk for comment, and was asked to provide Barghouthi’s identification number, information the organization does not disclose. The IDF said it “does not detain individuals on the basis of their work as journalists.”