Israeli Soldiers Detain Human Rights Defender Issa Amro for Seven Hours After He Responds to Settler Attack on Family

Hebron, Palestine, October 5, 2026

On Friday afternoon, October 2, Israeli soldiers detained Palestinian human rights defender Issa Amro in south Hebron near Beit Hagai settlement. They held him incommunicado at a military base for seven hours before releasing him overnight. According to his lawyer, Michael Sfard, Amro was blindfolded, handcuffed behind his back, and badly treated throughout his detention. The stated reason for his detention was that he had "got too close to a settlement."

Amro had gone to help a Palestinian family at their land and farmhouse near an illegal settler outpost outside Hebron after they called to report a settler attack. He said that when soldiers arrived at the family's property, acting as a militia, they did not protect the mother and children but instead arrested the father and forced the family to stay in their vehicle without the keys. When Amro arrived with other family members to check on the mother and children, a settler vehicle approached them. A settler pointed a gun at them and threatened to shoot, forced them to sit on the ground, and took their IDs.

Soldiers then arrived and, according to Amro, handcuffed and blindfolded him, hit him, shoved him against a wall, and set a dog on him, which bit his leg.

During his detention, Youth Against Settlements (YAS) and Friends of Hebron expressed deep concern for his safety and well-being and called on the Israeli authorities for his immediate release. Michael Sfard of the Human Rights Defenders Fund and Yehuda Shaul of Breaking the Silence stated at the time: "Six hours have passed and Issa Amro has not been brought to a police station or given his right to call his lawyer. This is a matter for grave concern, knowing today's practices against Palestinian activists. We demand to know where Issa is and what are the grounds for his detention!"

"Issa answered the call to help his community just as he does every day," said Mohammad Amro, spokesperson for YAS. "He was detained by soldiers for helping a family under attack. We are relieved he is home, but what happened to him and to this family must not be ignored."

Amro has been arbitrarily arrested or detained on numerous occasions. On October 7, 2023, he was abducted by a group of Israeli soldiers and settlers and held on an army base near his home in Hebron, where he reported being tortured for twelve hours, including sexual assault and mock executions, before being released and placed under house arrest. In 2025, he reported repeated harassment by settlers and soldiers following his appearance in Louis Theroux's BBC documentary "The Settlers," including attacks and raids on his home. For more than a decade, UN Special Rapporteurs, Amnesty International, and numerous human rights organizations have repeatedly expressed concern for his life, safety, and well-being.

Hebron and the south Hebron hills are marked by settler violence, land seizures, and closures, which have escalated in recent years. "Settlers control everything in this area," Mohammad Amro stated. "We need the international community to speak up to support us against land taking and violence, and to protect the Palestinian defenders of human rights."

Issa Amro is known for his commitment to nonviolence as a philosophy and practice. He is recognized as a Human Rights Defender by the European Union and the United Nations, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025. In 2024, he received the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law and the Right Livelihood Award, and in 2025 he was named to TIME's 100 Next list. Issa is the founder of Youth Against Settlements and Friends of Hebron.