Introduction

Although Raja Eghbaria’s story may appear as an individual case of persecution, it powerfully testifies to systemic practices endured by thousands of Palestinians. Administrative detention and politically motivated court proceedings have become routine state policies targeting not only Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt) but also those residing within the ‘48 territories who hold Israeli citizenship.

Beyond the conditions of detention themselves, well documented over years of testimonies and recent evidence of collective punishment since October 2023, the process often begins without any concrete proof. Most cases rely on circumstantial or speculative evidence presented before courts. Accusations are frequently based on mere suspicion that an individual might commit, or has committed, acts deemed threatening, absent substantive evidence.

This mechanism of administrative detention extends to those arrested for expressing political or religious views associated with the Palestinian cause, participating in protests, or voicing dissent. In recent years, Israeli security forces have increasingly regarded Palestinian communities within the ‘48 territories as potential security threats, intensifying the crackdown on political expression. Following the escalation of the Gaza war in 2023, this approach expanded to include mass interrogations and detentions triggered by expressions of Palestinian identity or criticism of state policy.

Once detained, individuals are held without trial and without charge, on grounds that they allegedly pose a future security risk. As this measure is preventive, it carries no fixed time limit. Detainees are imprisoned under orders issued by regional military commanders, based on secret evidence undisclosed to them. This leaves them defenceless, facing unknown allegations, unable to refute them, uncertain of release, and denied due process, violating basic fundamental rights set out under article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights under which “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention”.

This practice, rooted in the British Mandate and continuously applied by Israel, has long targeted Palestinians both in the oPt and within the ‘48 territories. Under Israel’s current right-wing government and its judiciary reshaping efforts, the rule of law has become increasingly uncertain, particularly for Palestinians.

The Case of Raja Eghbaria

Raja Eghbaria (also spelled Eghbarieh) is a Palestinian citizen of Israel from Umm al-Fahem and a long-standing figure in Palestinian political organisation inside Israel. Born in 1952, he became active in the 1970s and later served as Secretary-General of Abnaa al-Balad (“Sons of the Land”), a secular nationalist movement advocating Palestinian unity, self-determination, and resistance to normalisation with Zionist institutions.

A former member of the High Follow-Up Committee for Palestinian Arab Citizens of Israel, Eghbaria has been monitored by authorities since the 1970s due to his political engagement. Over the decades he has faced repeated arrests, prison terms, and house arrest under administrative orders, with no credible evidence presented to substantiate the accusations. His early activism included participation in the 1976 Land Day mobilisations and a leadership role in organising the 1987 “Palestine Day” strike in solidarity with the First Intifada.

Eghbaria’s teaching post was terminated on political grounds, and two Arabic-language newspapers he founded (Al-Raya and Al-Midan) were shuttered by administrative order despite the absence of evidence tying them to incitement or terrorism. The curbs on his work as an educator and journalist illustrate wider constraints on Palestinian intellectual and political expression inside Israel.

Prosecution under the 2016 Counter-Terrorism Law

Eghbaria’s recent legal troubles arise from Israel’s 2016 Counter-Terrorism Law, which consolidated emergency powers and broadened criminal liability for political speech. In 2018, prosecutors charged him with “incitement to terrorism” and “identification with a terrorist organisation” (the PFLP), based on ten social-media posts from 2017-2018.

His defence led by Dr. Hassan Jabareen and Attorney Hadeel Abu Salih of Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel - argued that the case was politically driven, unconstitutional, and violated his freedom of expression. They also showed that several Arabic posts had been mistranslated into Hebrew. For example, the phrase taqdim wajb al-ʿazāʾ (“to offer condolences”) was rendered as “to identify with,” turning an expression of sympathy into purported support for terrorism.

Adalah further submitted statistical evidence indicating that over 95% of incitement prosecutions from 2016 to 2022 targeted Palestinian citizens of Israel, suggesting discriminatory enforcement.

Shabak’s Role in Political Surveillance

Shabak (Shin Bet), Israel’s internal security service, employs surveillance, secret evidence, and prolonged interrogations justified on security grounds. Human-rights organisations, including Adalah and international watchdogs, report that Shabak has summoned Arab citizens for “warning talks,” monitored social media, and pressured activists over pro-Palestinian speech and protest activity. These practices are widely viewed as undermining freedoms of expression, assembly, and privacy, and as part of a broader pattern of unequal treatment toward the Arab minority in Israel.

Shabak’s growing involvement in crime control within Arab communities also blurs the boundary between civilian policing and national security, casting citizens as potential security risks rather than equal members of the polity. This shift erodes due-process protections, fuels mistrust of state institutions, and raises concerns about profiling and collective punishment. Overall, Shabak’s operations among Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, expose a persistent tension between security policy and rights protections under Israeli law.

Communications Data and Surveillance Law

“Communications data” refers to information obtained by the Israel Security Agency (ISA), also known as the General Security Service, Shin Bet, or Shabak, from telecommunications providers. With current technologies, such data can map highly sensitive aspects of a person’s life, including movements and social contacts.

Public awareness of this programme surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the government authorised its use for contact tracing. Subsequently, the programme received formal approval through an expedited and defective procedure that, compared with other democracies, lacks baseline safeguards against misuse.

The government later announced plans to publish a legal memorandum proposing the first major amendment to the General Security Service Law in over two decades, including provisions on the communications database. Officials pledged to release the memorandum for public comment, address civil-society critiques, and conduct a transparent legislative process.

Administrative Detention in 2025

While the criminal case remained ongoing, Eghbaria was rearrested on 9 April 2025 by Shabak and Yasam- (Hebrew: יס"מ ) and placed in administrative detention under a four-month order issued by the Minister of Defence, based entirely on secret evidence alleging “contact with a foreign agent”.  On 3 July 2025, the Haifa District Court upheld the detention, despite the State Attorney’s Office stating it would not seek extension beyond August .

Adalah condemned the ruling as emblematic of Israel’s draconian use of administrative detention, asserting it serves to silence Palestinian political leaders without charge or trial in violation of international human rights law. At 73 years old, Eghbaria reportedly endured physical abuse and ill-treatment during detention, according to his lawyers and family.

Deteriorating Health and Human Rights Concerns

In May 2025, serious concerns arose regarding Eghbaria’s health and safety during imprisonment. According to the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network (2025), he was transferred from Megiddo Prison to Ramon Prison and was not brought to a scheduled court hearing on 8 May 2025. Prison authorities reportedly refused photographic or video documentation of his condition, citing an alleged scabies outbreak to justify denying visitation.

Testimonies from fellow detainees indicated Eghbaria had been beaten during transfer, denied medical treatment, and suffered a broken leg. In response, Abnaa al-Balad issued an urgent appeal for international intervention, warning his life was “in danger of assassination” and holding Israeli prison and intelligence authorities fully responsible for his safety.

The movement linked his detention to the broader post-October 2023 escalation of repression against Palestinians, characterised by mass arrests, torture, and silencing of political dissent critical of Israel’s military actions in Gaza. These claims underscore that political repression within the 1948 territories forms part of a wider campaign to suppress opposition to the Gaza war.

Torture and Inhumane Treatment

Israel ratified the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1991, with reservations to Article 20, which empowers the Committee Against Torture to investigate systematic torture practices. However, Israel has not ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT). Consequently, it is not obliged to establish a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) or permit international inspections by the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), as required by the Protocol.

Repeated calls have been made for Israel to ratify OPCAT, especially in light of ongoing concerns about detainee mistreatment in Israeli facilities. Reports of torture and sexual violence in Israel’s Sde Teiman prison are described by independent UN human rights experts as “grossly illegal and revolting,” representing “only the tip of the iceberg.”

“Israel’s widespread and systemic abuse of Palestinians in detention and arbitrary arrest practices over decades, coupled with the absence of any restraints by the Israeli State since 7 October 2023, paint a shocking picture enabled by absolute impunity,” the experts stated.

Currently, approximately 9,500 Palestinians, including hundreds of women and children, are imprisoned, with roughly one-third held without charge or trial. An unknown number are arbitrarily detained in ad hoc facilities and military camps following extensive arrest and abduction campaigns across Palestinian territories since October 2023.

The experts received substantiated reports of widespread abuse, torture, sexual assault, and rape amid atrocious and inhumane conditions, with at least 53 Palestinians reportedly dying in custody over ten months.

Supporting these findings, B’Tselem’s 2024 report Welcome to Hell documents systematic abuse, neglect, and torture of Palestinian prisoners held by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) since the war’s onset on 7 October 2023. Drawing on 55 testimonies from released detainees—residents of Gaza, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), and Israeli citizens - B’Tselem concludes that the Israeli prison system has effectively become a network of torture camps integral to the broader occupation and apartheid apparatus. The report calls for immediate remedial action, accountability for abuses, and compliance with international human rights standards.

Similarly, Human Rights Watch notes Israeli authorities have not publicly condemned the underlying mistreatment of detainees, though some soldiers have been disciplined for sharing abusive imagery online. HRW warns military commanders and senior officials may bear criminal responsibility for ordering or failing to prevent such abuses.

Broader Political Context

The employment of administrative detention and counterterrorism legislation against Palestinian citizens of Israel, exemplified by the case of Raja Eghbaria, reflects a broader state strategy aimed at criminalising Palestinian civic and political engagement. Resources ostensibly dedicated to combating crime are increasingly utilised to target those actively resisting it, citing Eghbaria’s detention and the prohibition of the Spreading Peace Committee as clear examples of how security discourse is instrumentalised to delegitimise Palestinian activism.

Collectively, the evidence presented by international bodies and human rights groups, exposes a persistent and systemic pattern: the deployment of legal, administrative, and financial mechanisms not only to curtail Palestinian political participation in Israel but also to enforce social and political control. The prolonged persecution of Raja Eghbaria, spanning five decades of surveillance, arrests, and imprisonment, reveals how counterterrorism and emergency laws have evolved beyond mere security functions to become tools of political suppression and social intimidation, deliberately designed to obstruct collective Palestinian mobilisation and expression.

On 13 November 2025, the Haifa Court issued another ruling in a case that has been pending since 2018. The judge found Eghbaria guilty on 10 counts of “incitement to violence and terrorism” for social media posts. Another court session will be held on 22 December, during which each count will be reviewed to determine the basis for the alleged guilt.

Attention and pressure from the international community are needed to address the practice of administrative detention - not only in relation to Raja Eghbaria, but for all Palestinians, both in Israel and in the OPT. Such action is necessary to hold Israel accountable.