‘Israeli’ soldier posts photo with blindfolded Palestinian journalist in West Bank
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‘Israeli’ forces arrested freelance Palestinian journalist Marah Mohammed Awad early on Monday, during a raid on her family home in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
According to her brother and local reports, soldiers entered the house at dawn, searched it, and took Awad away after blindfolding and handcuffing her.
Her phone and computer were also confiscated.
Hamouda Awad, the journalist’s brother, described the incident to the SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom.
“Israeli army forces stormed the family home at dawn on Monday, asked about my sister Marah, and searched the house in a rough manner,” he said.
“They assaulted me. After confirming my sister’s identity, one of the officers asked her, ‘What do you write about the State of Israel?’ He accused her of incitement against Israel, seized her phone and computer, then the soldiers tied her hands, blindfolded her, and took her to an unknown location.”
Family members said they still do not know where Awad is being held or what charges, if any, have been filed against her.
Attempts to obtain information through human rights groups monitoring Palestinian detainees have so far yielded no details.
Awad is a media graduate of Palestine Technical University.
Several days after the arrest, a photograph showing Awad blindfolded and handcuffed, standing beside a masked and armed ‘Israeli’ soldier outside a house at night, began circulating on social media.
Palestinian media outlets described the image, which appeared to have been posted by a soldier, as a “provocative scene.”
The photo has been widely shared by accounts documenting events in the West Bank.
The arrest forms part of a broader pattern of detentions of Palestinian journalists in the West Bank.
Media freedom organizations have recorded multiple cases in 2026 of reporters being taken from their homes, held without immediate public charges, or placed under administrative detention.
Palestinian press groups routinely describe such actions as efforts to restrict coverage of events in the occupied territories.
No official statement from the ‘Israeli’ military specifically addressing Awad’s detention or the circulating photograph was available.
