Ramallah – 06 January 2026 The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) strongly condemns the systematic policy of arbitrary arrest pursued by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian journalists, a policy that constitutes a direct assault on press freedom and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights conventions.
In this context, the arrest of journalist ENAS IKHLAWI from the city of Hebron at dawn yesterday, following a raid on her home in the town of Idna, west of Hebron in the southern West Bank, adds to a long series of violations targeting media professionals. These practices aim to silence journalists and prevent them from carrying out their professional duty of conveying the truth.
The arrest of journalist IKHLAWI was preceded earlier this month by the arrest of freelance journalist SALIM SUHAIL AL-SALMAN on the first day of January, after Israeli forces stormed his home in the southern neighborhood of Tulkarm and confiscated his mobile phone along with the phones of several family members.
MADA affirms that the arrest of journalists constitutes arbitrary detention within a systematic policy targeting Palestinian journalists in an attempt to suppress the media voice, impose coercive censorship, and obstruct the documentation and transmission of the truth regarding violations committed against the Palestinian people. This comes amid a dangerous escalation in crimes against journalists, including killing, arrest, administrative detention, physical assault, and digital persecution.
Such violations clearly contravene Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression, and Article 79 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, which affirms the obligation to protect journalists while performing their professional duties. These arrests also represent a breach of the occupying power’s obligations under international law.
MADA further stresses that the targeting of journalists in general, and women journalists in particular, constitutes a compound violation combining political repression with gender-based discrimination. It reveals an increasing threat faced by women working in the media sector, especially in the absence of accountability and the persistence of impunity.
Accordingly, MADA calls for:
- The immediate and unconditional release of journalist ENAS IKHLAWI, journalist SALIM AL-SALMAN, and all detained journalists.
- An end to the policy of arbitrary arrest and persecution of Palestinian journalists, both women and men.
- Urgent intervention by international organizations, foremost among them the United Nations and the Special Rapporteurs on freedom of opinion and expression, to take immediate accountability measures.
- Holding the occupying authorities accountable for crimes committed against journalists, as grave violations amounting to war crimes under international law.
MADA affirms that it will continue to document these violations and pursue accountability through relevant international mechanisms until effective protection for journalists is ensured and the policy of impunity is brought to an end.
