Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with a donation.

The Israeli military arrested 20-year-old U.S. citizen Sama Safi at her family’s home in Ramallah on June 2. She has been held in military detention for the last three weeks without charge.

This is not the first high-profile case of the Israeli military detaining a U.S. citizen without charge since October 7, 2023.

Mohammed Ibrahim, 15, was held in Israeli military detention for more than nine months on the accusation of throwing stones at Israeli vehicles. He turned 16 behind bars and faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted, but he was released in late November of last year after a concerted pressure campaign in the U.S. calling for his release.

Safi’s lawyer, Lea Tsemel, also represented Ibrahim. She gained prominence over five decades of representing Palestinians in Israeli courts, including clients accused of attacks on Israelis. In 1996, she received France’s highest human rights award, shared with Palestinian lawyer Raji Sourani.

According to Tsemel, Safi is currently being held as a security detainee at the Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank.

American Child Details Abuses in Israeli Prison as Democrats Demand His Release

“Physically, she’s okay, very thin. They get very little to eat, of course, because she’s considered a security prisoner,” Tsemel said.

As of June 2026, Israel was holding 3,324 Palestinians in administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial.

As of June 2026, Israel was holding 3,324 Palestinians in administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial.

As of June 2026, Israel was holding 3,324 Palestinians in administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial — among roughly 9,000 Palestinians held as “security” prisoners overall, according to the Israeli rights group HaMoked. The group describes the total as one of the highest figures in decades.

Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank are subject to Israeli military law, while Israelis living in settlements, which the International Court of Justice has held to be illegal under international law, are subject to Israeli civil law.

Robert McCaw, national government affairs department director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said, “Immediately, [U.S. Ambassador to Israel] Mike Huckabee should be saying either press charges or release this American citizen now. It’s one sentence. It can happen quickly. He has not demonstrated the moral courage to do so.”

The Israeli military and Israeli Prison Service did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Security prisoners in Israel have faced brutal conditions, especially since October 7, under Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the prison system and has publicly boasted of making conditions harsher for Palestinian security prisoners.

This is reflected in Tsemel’s assessment of Safi’s treatment: “When she’s brought to us, she has to bend her body, bend her head … To walk with her head down, not to lift it, with a hand behind the........

© Truthout