On August 27, 2025, Israeli forces arrested 40-year-old Palestinian journalist and lecturer Ossayd Amarneh, while traveling with his wife and children in the Qabr Hilwa area, east of the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem
Soldiers stopped their car and forcibly removed Amarneh, searched the vehicle, and took him away, leaving his family behind in shock, the journalist’s father, Abdul Majid Amarneh, told CPJ.
On September 4, 2025 an Israeli military court ordered Amarneh be held in administrative detention until February 27, 2026, according to a court order reviewed by CPJ that cited a “secret file” and said he posed a “security threat to the region.” Authorities subsequently canceled a hearing scheduled for September 7, the journalist’s father told CPJ. On September 6, Amarneh’s cousin, journalist Khaled Abu Aisheh, confirmed to CPJ that he was being held in Ofer Prison, near Ramallah.
On February 26, 2026, the Israeli military court at Ofer extended Amarneh’s administrative detention for a second time, renewing the order until August 25, 2026. His wife, Ansam Amarneh, told CPJ that the extension was issued without formal charges. She noted that administrative detention orders can be renewed repeatedly, meaning his detention could be extended again beyond August 25, 2026.
An Israeli military spokesperson told CPJ via messaging app on August 31 that Amarneh was placed under administrative detention due to alleged “security-related activity.”
Israeli soldiers previously arrested Amarneh at a military checkpoint between Ramallah and Bethlehem on December 25, 2024. He later told CPJ that he was transferred to the Atarot police station after soldiers found a kitchen knife, which he used for food, inside his car. Amarneh said he was interrogated during his trial about his journalism and Facebook posts, including coverage of Israeli settlers dancing at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque complex and support for the people of Gaza.
He was sentenced to four months in prison on charges of incitement, reduced to two months on appeal, and released February 23, 2025.