By Jesus Mesa
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A 20-year-old American citizen remains in Israeli military detention more than three weeks after soldiers took her from her home in the occupied West Bank in the middle of the night, drawing condemnations from a growing number of U.S. lawmakers who are urging the Trump administration to secure her release.
Sama Safi, a Palestinian-American psychology student at Birzeit University in the West Bank, was arrested on June 2 during an Israel Defense Forces raid on her home and has been held without charge.
Israeli security forces arrived at her home at 3 a.m. and took her without explanation, according to Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, who posted a video on X describing the arrest. Safi told the soldiers she was an American citizen. They did not respond to that, Van Hollen said.
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The Trump administration said it was aware of the situation. A State Department spokesperson said the department "takes its commitment to assist Americans abroad seriously" and was monitoring the case, but declined to comment further, citing privacy considerations.
Lawmakers Push for Release
California Representative Derek Tran, a Democrat, on Monday described the detention as part of a "disturbing pattern" of the Israeli government denying Palestinians their basic rights, often at the expense of their health and safety.
"The United States has a responsibility to protect its citizens abroad, and we must hold our allies to basic standards of equal justice under the law," Tran wrote on X, urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration to use every diplomatic tool available to bring Safi home safely.
Oregon Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley posted a statement on June 6 saying that Safi's family and the U.S. Embassy did not know where she had been taken. "This is a five-alarm fire," Merkley wrote. "The U.S. needs to secure Sama's release NOW."
Massachusetts Representative Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat, also called for Safi's release, saying IDF soldiers had "terrorized" her family during the arrest.
Van Hollen said he had been in contact with both the U.S. and Israeli embassies and was pressing Rubio and the Trump administration to act. "Her detention is unacceptable and falls in line with a disturbing pattern of mistreatment of American citizens by the Netanyahu government," Van Hollen said.
Health Concerns Mount
Safi suffers from familial Mediterranean fever, a chronic autoinflammatory disease that can trigger severe fevers, inflammation, and debilitating pain. Family members said she had spent months bedridden before her condition stabilized through daily medication and specialized treatment received abroad.
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According to CAIR, Safi's condition can cause fever spikes to 105 degrees Fahrenheit and requires a quarterly injection that she must travel outside the country to receive. Israeli authorities were aware of the condition but had not allowed her access to medication for several days, the organization said.
Other family members told The Guardian that Safi was not receiving adequate medical attention in detention.
Safi was transferred to Ofer Prison alongside the other detained students, according to a spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners' Society.
IDF Cites Terror Allegations
An IDF spokesperson told The Guardian that Safi and the three other female students were arrested for "promoting hostile terrorist activity and additional terrorist-related activities." One of the other students was released in the week following the arrests.
Safi is represented by Israeli human rights lawyer Lea Tsemel, who challenged the basis of the charges. According to Tsemel, Safi and the other students appear to have been identified through information obtained from two previously detained students who provided authorities with names connected to a student organization called Qutub. Israeli authorities allege the group is affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Safi denies any involvement with the organization, Tsemel said.
"I don't know how this information was extorted from them, probably by force," Tsemel told The Guardian. "It's nonsense." The lawyer added that Safi "knows she didn't do anything."
Safi's cousin, Selma Farsakh Ulm, has helped organize advocacy efforts in the United States and said the case highlights a broader reality for Palestinian detainees.
"What Sama is experiencing is also being experienced by many, many other people," Ulm said. "But calling attention to her case can also educate others about what other people are experiencing who are not American citizens."
Palestinian official figures show that around 23,000 Palestinians have been detained since Israel's war in Gaza began in October 2023.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Sam Wilson.
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