Three Jerusalemites placed under administrative detention
In recent days, occupation authorities placed three Jerusalemites—including writer and political analyst Rasem Obeidat (67)—under administrative detention. They also renewed the administrative detention of Islamic Endowment Department employees Mahdi Abeesan (al-Abbasi) and Abdul Rahman al-Sharif for an additional two months.
Forces arrested Obeidat on September 27, 2026, after raiding his home in the village of Jabal al-Mukabber. The Jerusalem Magistrate Court extended his detention until the next day. On Tuesday evening, occupation authorities then placed him under administrative detention for six months.
Administrative detention means holding someone without filing an indictment or holding a criminal trial, under an administrative order citing what authorities describe as security concerns. Each order can last up to six months and may be renewed. Unlike detention pending an investigation or trial, it does not follow the standard judicial process of charges, a trial, and a verdict. Although detention orders are subject to judicial review, the information authorities rely on is often classified and not fully accessible to the detainee or their lawyer.
In the cases of Abeesan and al-Sharif, the occupation authorities renewed their administrative detention for another two months just as they were due to be released, after a series of consecutive detention orders. Abeesan and Al-Sharif were arrested last February and placed in administrative detention for four months; in June, their detention was renewed for a further four-month term.
They were scheduled for release on Friday, when their detention period was set to expire. However, the day before, a decision was issued to extend their detention by another two months—the second consecutive renewal since the initial order.
The renewal decision came just as the detainees expected to be released. Instead, they remain in custody under new administrative orders, rather than being freed when the previous term expired. This highlights that administrative detention can be renewed and does not end only after a judicial ruling.
