FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, November 23, 2025
Ayman Ghrayeb, a prominent Palestinian grassroots activist based in the Jordan Valley, was arrested by Israeli forces on Monday, November 17, and was forcibly disappeared for two days before his lawyers were given any information about his whereabouts. During this time, Ghrayeb had been covertly held at the Samra military base in the Jordan Valley, and was kept outdoors and exposed to the elements, handcuffed, was denied any food and was beaten by the soldiers guarding him so badly that he required hospitalization twice.
Only today, six days after his initial arrest, Ghrayeb was interrogated for the first time on non-specific suspicion of so-called incitement. The questioning appears to be a mere formality as adv. Riham Nasra, his lawyer, was notified even before he was questioned, that he will be placed under so-called administrative detention—an Israeli euphemism for indefinite detention without charge or trial, based on secret evidence and undisclosed suspicions that are kept even from the detainee’s lawyer. Choosing administrative detention over prosecution shows his arrest is a clear case of political persecution, as much of Ghrayeb’s work involves advocacy through social media and is all done in the public eye.
When speaking to his lawyer before questioning, Ghrayeb, who was in good health at the time of his detention, reported being hit in the ribs by a soldier while interned and handcuffed at the Samra military base. As result of the beating and abuse, Ghrayeb was hospitalized twice in two days. Only days ago, the Israeli organization Physicians for Human Rights published a report revealing that at least 94 Palestinian detainees were killed in Israeli prisons since October 7, 2023.
For more details:
Belal Ghrayeb +970-59-9974-297 (Arabic)
Jonathan Pollak +972-50-3010-160 / +970-59-2934-306 (English, Hebrew, Arabic)
Ayman Ghrayeb was detained on Monday while visiting the al-Fasayyel community in the Jordan Valley, which is currently facing the threat of forced displacement by Israeli violence carried out by both the army and residents of the adjacent Havat Harashash settlement outpost.
Ghrayeb was initially unlawfully detained by settlement security personnel and, several hours later, by Israeli soldiers who confiscated his phone and camera. According to a friend who was with him at the time of his arrest, two different agents of Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet, spoke with Ghrayeb by phone while he was detained in the field. During the calls, the agents told him that they had “had enough” with his activism and “incitement,” and that this time he will be sent to jail.
Ghrayeb’s detention takes place in the context of the massive displacement of over 100 Palestinian communities over the past two years,* many of them in the Jordan Valley. As one of the most prominent Palestinian activists working in the Jordan Valley, Ghrayeb is regularly harassed by Israeli forces and is frequently stopped at Israeli checkpoints. Over the past several years, he has been the subject of multiple arbitrary detentions, none of which have led to an indictment. His detention is part of a broader Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing, specifically of clearing the Jordan Valley of Palestinians. It is also part of the intensified targeting of Palestinian grassroots activists since October 2023. Many such activists are regularly harassed by the Shin Bet, and several have been placed under administrative detention. Most recently, prominent activist Rabia Abu Naim of the flashpoint village of al-Mughayyer, and a coordinator of the Zaytoun 2025 olive harvest campaign, was detained during a nighttime raid of his home and placed under administrative detention. Abu Naim’s arrest took place on October 10, the opening day of the harvest campaign. He was placed under administrative detention despite the military prosecutor’s admission that Abu Naim had not been involved in any armed activity.
*According to information collected by the Kerem Navot NGO, 110 Palestinian communities have been forcefully displaced since October 7, 2023.