June 9, 2026
Free Sama Safi: A US Citizen Abducted from Her Home
In a predawn raid at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday, 2 June 2026, Israeli soldiers seized Sama Safi — a 20-year-old American citizen and honors student at Birzeit University — from her family home in the Ramallah area. She told the soldiers she was a US citizen. They took her anyway. She was one of four Birzeit students detained that day.
Sama was first taken to Ofer military prison and then moved to the Al-Maskubiya (Russian Compound) interrogation center in Jerusalem — a location her family says they learned of only indirectly, as neither they nor the US Embassy were formally notified. She is being held without charge. The Israeli military has alleged only vague “terrorism-related” suspicions and presented no evidence; the family was told simply, “You’ll find out in court.” A first hearing was scheduled for the following week.
According to her family, Sama lives with Familial Mediterranean Fever, a chronic condition that requires daily medication and regular injections. They say the Israeli military — aware of her illness — withheld her medication for days, triggering dangerous fever spikes, and they warn that her life is at risk. These medical details come from her family and the campaign and have not been independently verified, but they have been consistently reported and remain uncontradicted.
US Senator Chris Van Hollen has publicly demanded her immediate release, saying he is “really sick and tired of the Israeli government, the Netanyahu government, taking American taxpayer dollars and then mistreating Americans,” and pressing the Secretary of State and the US Ambassador to Israel to act. The State Department has acknowledged “the detention of an American in the West Bank” and says only that it is “monitoring the situation.”
Sama Safi is one name among thousands held in Israeli prisons — but her family is fighting for her life right now, and there is a window to act. Demand her release and take action:
👉 Bit.ly/free-sama
Reported by The New Arab, Middle East Eye, Anadolu Agency, and CAIR. Facts current as of 10 June 2026.