On November 5, 2023, Somaya Jawabra, a 30-year-old freelance journalist from Nablus in the northern West Bank, was arrested. She was summoned, along with her husband, journalist Tariq Al-Sarkaji, for an investigation on incitement charges at the Israeli police station in the settlement of Ariel in the West Bank. While her husband was later released, Jawabra, who was seven months pregnant when she was arrested, remained in custody for another week.
Her arrest followed about two weeks of incitement against her by settlers in a Telegram group, according to her husband and London-based news website The New Arab, RT Arabic, and the Palestinian press freedom group MADA. The New Arab said settlers accused Jawabra of having Hamas ties and of inciting violence against Israel.
On November 12, Jawabra was released from prison under the condition of house arrest for an indefinite period, and bail of 10,000 shekels (US$2,588), and a third-party bail of 50,000 shekels (US$12,940), according to The New Arab and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.
Jawabra gave birth to her son in January 2024 while under house arrest.
In October 2024, Jawabra’s husband told CPJ via messaging app that his wife was still under house arrest and that an Israeli military court on May 12 postponed the next hearing until December.
CPJ erroneously did not include Jawabra in its 2023 prison census, which counts the journalists in prison worldwide as of December 1.
Jawabra was arrested in the course of Israel’s recent military operations in the region, which began after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Israel has killed scores of journalists in Gaza as well as six in Lebanon, jailed dozens of Palestinian journalists from the West Bank and Gaza, and destroyed much of the press infrastructure in Gaza, all while preventing the foreign press from entering Gaza.
CPJ emailed the Israel Defense Forces, Israel’s Security Agency, also known as Shin Bet, and the Israeli Prison Service in late 2024 for comment on the cases of imprisoned Palestinian journalists but received no response.