On February 28, 2025, Israeli authorities arrested 37-year-old Palestinian freelance journalist Bayan al-Johbeh while she was reporting at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Al-Johbeh, who has Israeli residency, hasremained 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 [2025], and remains under house arrest, not allowed to leave the house except for medical reasons.”
The Israeli Ministry of Interior has denied Al-Johbeh’s requests to register her infant son in official records and give him residency in Jerusalem, saying that the family lives in Al-Ram in the West Bank, al-Sadeq told CPJ.
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.
“This is despite the court’s imposition of house arrest on Al-Johbeh in Jerusalem,” he said.
“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.”
The latest hearing in Al-Johbeh’s case was held on May 17, 2026. During the hearing, Israeli prosecutors requested a prison sentence of between 20 and 40 months in prison, with a minimum term of 24 months, her husband told CPJ. The court scheduled sentencing for June 7, 2026.
Al-Sadeq said that the indictment, filed on March 20, 2025, was based on journalistic and news posts Al-Johbeh published on Facebook and Instagram between 2021 and 2024.
In response to CPJ’s request for comment, a spokesperson for the Israeli prosecutor’s office said that Al-Johbeh had been convicted, following the presentation of evidence, of several offenses related to “incitement to terrorism” and “identification with a terrorist organization,” over social media posts published over an extended period, including after October 7, 2023. The spokesperson said prosecutors asked the court to impose a two-year prison sentence, along with additional penalties.