Freelance journalist Sabri Jibreen was arrested on September 10, 2026, when Israeli forces raided his home in Tuqu, southeast of Bethlehem, according to his brother Tarek Jibreen.
His family are currently unaware of his whereabouts or the reasons for his arrest.
Jibreen was previously arrested on October 14, 2023, and placed in administrative detention.
After his arrest, Israel banned J-Media, a platform he used to collaborate with, on security grounds. Jibreen was released on June 11, 2025, after nearly 20 months of detention.
“I was beaten by prison authorities and special units during my arrest, while being transferred between prisons, and even inside prison cells on various occasions,” Jibreen told CPJ upon his previous release. “This included severe kicking, starvation, verbal abuse, humiliation, tearing of clothes, and breaking of my glasses. I also fell ill due to contaminated food, lack of access to hygiene materials, and being denied showers."
He lost 18 kilograms (40 pounds) while in detention, according to his account.
He was among the journalists whose testimony was included in the CPJ special report “We returned from hell” published in February 2026, which compiles accounts from 58 journalists who reported patterns of abuse, torture, and mistreatment against Palestinian journalists inside Israeli prisons.
The Israeli military did not respond to CPJ’s repeated requests for comment on specific allegations by journalists in the report, instead requesting ID numbers and geographic coordinates, which CPJ does not collect or provide. When asked about allegations of physical and sexual abuse, starvation, and the investigation and accountability process, an army spokesperson said, “individuals detained are treated in accordance with international law,” adding that the armed forces “have never, and will never, deliberately target journalists,” and that any violations of protocol would be looked into.
CPJ also emailed the Israel Prison Service regarding the allegations in the report. In response, they said that “all prisoners are detained according to the law” and “all basic rights are fully upheld by professionally trained prison guards.” The service said it was unaware of the claims, and that to its knowledge “no such events have occurred,” but noted that “prisoners and detainees have the right to file a complaint that will be fully examined and addressed by official authorities.”
In November 2021, Jibreen was briefly arrested by Israeli forces and questioned for several hours about posts on his personal Facebook page that Israeli officials alleged contained inciting material, Jibreen told Beirut-based press freedom group SKeyes.
“The interrogating officer reviewed the news about Jerusalem that I published on my private Facebook page, namely what is happening in the city in terms of attacks, violations, and casualties resulting from Israeli attacks,” Jibreen said in November 2021. The investigating officer ended the questioning by threatening him with harsher punishment if he was caught again.
CPJ emailed the Israeli military in September 2026 for comment on Jibreen’s latest detention and his current location. The Israeli military responded, alleging that he was a Hamas operative who intended to “carry out an attack against Israeli civilians,” though no evidence was presented to support the assertion.