Israeli occupation court extends detention of Press TV journalist Naqaa Hamed
An Israeli occupation court has extended the detention of Press TV correspondent Naqaa Hamed until September 23, 2026, continuing the regime’s systematic campaign to silence independent journalism in the occupied West Bank. Hamed, 38, was abducted on September 14 by occupation forces at a checkpoint near Tuqu’ in Bethlehem. Separated from her camera crew, she was transferred to an undisclosed facility and subjected to harsh interrogation regarding her journalistic work. She remains in custody without formal charges. A Palestinian-American citizen and mother of three, Hamed has over 15 years of experience covering political and humanitarian crises. Since joining Press TV in 2024, she has provided courageous, field-based reporting on Israeli settler-colonialism and the steadfastness of ordinary Palestinians. Her abduction follows a relentless pattern of physical and psychological targeting. The story of Naqaa Hamed, Press TV’s West Bank correspondent abducted by Israeli regime forces Press TV’s West Bank correspondent Naqaa Hamed, a Palestinian-American journalist, was abducted by Israeli occupation forces amid escalating harassment, smear campaigns and repeated targeting over her coverage of Israeli military raids and settler attacks. In December 2025 and August 2026, occupation forces deliberately injured her with rubber bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas while she was clearly marked as media in the Qalandia refugee camp. The physical violence was preceded by a coordinated Zionist smear campaign on social media, falsely branding her an “agent of propaganda” to build public justification for her silencing. Despite holding dual American citizenship, Hamed’s family has received no response from the US Embassy in occupied Al-Quds regarding her arbitrary detention. Meanwhile, Israeli media and propaganda outlets have baselessly amplified unsubstantiated "espionage" claims to legitimize the regime's crackdown on her vital reporting from the ground. International press freedom organizations continue to demand her immediate and unconditional release, condemning the occupation's ongoing efforts to obstruct the flow of information regarding its crimes in the West Bank.