On February 28, 2025, Israeli authorities arrested 37-year-old Palestinian freelance journalist Bayan al-Johbeh while she was reporting at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Al-Johbeh, who has Israeli residency, has remained under house arrest in her home in Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem since March 1, 2025, and faces charges of “incitement via social media.”
“Al-Johbeh was released under strict conditions due to her being pregnant at the time of her arrest,” her husband and fellow journalist, Mohammed al-Sadeq, told CPJ. “She has since been placed under open-ended house arrest, banned from using social media. She gave birth to her son, Yazan, last April, and remains under house arrest, not allowed to leave the house except for medical reasons.”
Authorities have postponed al-Johbeh’s trial several times over the last five months, most recently on July 22 until August 13, 2025, al-Sadeq told CPJ.
The Israeli Ministry of Interior has denied al-Johbeh’s requests to register her infant son in official records, saying that the family lives in al-Ram in the West Bank, al-Sadeq told CPJ.
“This is despite the court’s imposition of house arrest on al-Johbeh in Jerusalem,” he said.
Palestinian children born in Jerusalem are legally entitled to permanent residency, if their parents have valid residency. But registration is often difficult to secure as control over the city is contested by Israel and the Palestinians.
“There is no legal justification for the continued restrictions on Bayan’s freedom and the prevention of her from practicing her work,” al-Sadeq told CPJ. “The current situation prevents her from moving, and as a journalist and a mother, she has the right to be treated fairly.”