Israeli police release journalist Abd Abu Shahada after detention

Israeli police released journalist Abd Abu Shahada on Sunday before a court hearing. He was arrested on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent after an interview with Azmi Bishara.

The Higher Follow-Up Committee, human rights organizations, and activists have called for a protest in front of the Magistrate's Court in Tel Aviv on Sunday, November 8, 2026, at 11:00 AM, demanding the immediate release of journalist Abd Abu Shahada, who is being held by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet). The protest will take place at the court entrance on 1 Weizmann Street in Tel Aviv, as part of protest and rights movements demanding an end to his detention and rejecting what rights and political bodies consider a crackdown on journalistic work and a restriction on freedom of expression. Police and Shin Bet arrested Abu Shahada on the night of Tuesday-Wednesday last week, after raiding his home in Jaffa, before the Magistrate's Court in Tel Aviv extended his detention until Sunday, after the police requested an eight-day extension on suspicion of "contact with a foreign agent." According to the defense team, the investigation focuses on an interview he conducted with Palestinian intellectual Azmi Bishara, director of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, while he was in Qatar, published on the "Al-Midan" podcast he hosts on the "Arab 48" website. Abu Shahada's family reported that about 15 security personnel, including masked individuals, stormed their home and confiscated his computer and electronic devices, and the family was unable to locate him for hours.