Enas Ikhlawi is a young Palestinian journalist committed to documenting and reporting about settlers' attacks against Palestinian villagers. Her goal is to inform the public, hold settlers and IDF attacks to account, and ensure that underrepresented voices of Palestinian villagers are heard. She also led a women's program in Hebron.

Sadly, that came abruptly to an end yesterday Monday January 5, when heavily armed IDF soldiers stormed her home in the town of Idana, west of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. According to her brother Raafat Ikhlawi, "After breaking down the doors and arresting my sister Enas in a brutal manner, she was dragged away violently without a hijab or warm clothing. After significant pressure, we were allowed to give her a coat. So far, we do not know her whereabouts or the reason for her arrest."

While activists link it to efforts silencing coverage of settler attacks, the arrest fits a pattern of over 21,000 detentions since October 2023 in Gaza and the West Bank, many without trial amid rising tensions and no immediate comment from Israeli forces.

Journalists in Palestine face significant challenges due to the Israeli government censorship and crackdowns. Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli Death Forces have killed 248 Palestinian journalists in Israel’s ongoing targeting of Palestinian journalists in Gaza & West Bank continues without accountability. Enas Ikhlawi was the last Palestinian journalist to be abducted by the IDF.

British activist Sarah Wilkinson tweeted on Mon. Jan. 5, "Israeli forces carry out raids across several areas in the occupied West Bank, detaining a number of Palestinians, including journalist Enas Ikhlawi, and 15 y/o boy, Yazan al-Aloul, who was arrested in the same operation." This was confirmed by the Times of Israel report of today Jan. 6, " The IDF says its forces, together with the Shin Bet, Border Police, and West Bank police, arrested 70 Palestinians over the past week in raids across the West Bank."

Like many of the 12,000 Palestinian prisoners currently held by Israel, 7,000 are under ADA (Administrative Detention Act) - a procedure allowing the Israeli military to hold prisoners indefinitely on secret evidence without charging or allowing them to stand trial, renewable every six months. Enas Ikhlawi is being held under ADA. Such practice that was not even deployed during the Nazi era.

The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories B'TSElEM, explained ADA as "In administrative detention, a person is held without trial without having committed an offense on the grounds that he or she plans to break the law in the future. As this measure is supposed to be preventive, it has no time limit. The person is detained without legal proceedings, by order of the regional military commander, based on classified evidence that is not revealed to them. This leaves the detainees helpless – facing unknown allegations with no way to disprove them, not knowing when they will be released, and without being charged, tried or convicted."

Where are the feminists? Where are the passionate advocates for those wrongfully  held people for fighting against tyranny? Keep in mind, the problem of the Palestinian women is NOT hijab & Hamas but the occupation kidnapping and abusing them every day so the rest of the world would be in the dark about Israeli crimes and human rights violations.

Mahmoud El-Youseph is a Palestinian freelance writer and retired U.S. Air Force veteran. He writes on U.S. foreign policy, Middle East affairs, and justice. Email: elyousseph6@yahoo.com