On August 6, 2025, Israeli forces arrested 24-year-old Palestinian journalist Farah Abu Ayash from her home in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Abu Ayash was taken in the early hours of the morning, according to her family and multiple news reports.
Her father, Mohammed Abu Ayash, told CPJ that Israeli forces raided the house, searching and ransacking it, before detaining his daughter, who works for Iran’s Tasnim News Agency. He said Israeli forces went on to search several more homes in the al-Dhahr neighborhood and on Sheikhah Fatima Street in Beit Ummar.
Abu Ayash’s lawyer, Ihab al-Ghalayidh, from the non-profit Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, told CPJ that the Israeli police accused her of making “contact with a foreign agent,” but did not elaborate.
CPJ spoke to Abu Ayash’s mother, Maram Abu Ayash, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, and a lawyer with the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, who confirmed that she was an active journalist at the time of her arrest. The same three sources confirmed that Abu Ayash was not known to be a combatant.
Abu Ayash was previously arrested on January 21, 2025.
On November 16, 2025, Abu Ayash spoke to lawyer Hassan Abbadi on Radio Nisaa about her conditions in prison, including in Al-Moskobiya detention center in Jerusalem, Ayalon prison in Ramla, south of Tel Aviv, and in Damon prison, near Haifa.
Abu Ayash said the abuse began during her arrest, when military dogs tore at her trousers and her hands were bound tightly with zip ties. She said she was later tied to a leaking water pipe and left there through the night. She reported also being forced to give the Israeli forces the password to her phone.
Abu Ayash said conditions at Al-Moskobiya prison felt like a “horror movie.” She alleged that while she was ill, guards placed heavy chains on her shoulders, slammed her head against a wall, pulled her by the hair, and ordered her to kiss the Israeli flag. When she refused, she said they beat her.
She also described unsanitary conditions in Ayalon prison, including a cell infested with rats and cockroaches, as well as bedbugs on her body and face that left visible marks. She added that she was denied access to a shower and not given clean clothing.
Lawyer Hassan Abbadi told CPJ Abu Ayash spent at least 55 days in solitary confinement and suffered from medical neglect, routine beatings, strip searches, and verbal abuse, as well as the repeated removal of her headscarf.
According to a report published on December 2, 2025 by her employer, Tasnim News, Abu Ayash was subjected to water boarding and electroshock.
On December 7, 2025, the Israeli Ofer military court rescheduled Abu Ayash’s trial for the sixth time, her father Mohammed Abu Ayash told CPJ on December 9, 2025. Israeli authorities previously extended her detention twice for a week, then twice for 15 days, then once for 45 days.
Abu Ayash’s trial on April 28, 2026, was postponed to May 19, 2026, then to June 2, 2026, and again to June 28, 2026, according to her father.
CPJ emailed the Israeli Prison Service for comment but did not receive a response.