US lawmakers urge Trump team to free of American student held by Israel

What the report says

More than 40 members of the US Congress have urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to intervene in the case of Sama Safi, a 20-year-old Palestinian American student detained by the Israeli military since June. In a letter reported by Al Jazeera, lawmakers said Safi’s health is worsening in custody and asked Rubio to use all available diplomatic tools to secure her release.

The letter, led by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and signed by six senators including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Chris Van Hollen, says Safi has been held without charge after being taken from her home in the occupied West Bank in a pre-dawn raid. According to the report, she was attending Birzeit University and was among four young women detained in an Israeli crackdown on anti-occupation activism.

Lawmakers said Safi has a chronic medical condition, Familial Mediterranean Fever, and has not had regular access to medication. They also cited allegations of abuse and unsanitary conditions in detention. Al Jazeera reported that the State Department said it is aware of reports involving an American detained in the West Bank and that it tracks such cases, while declining to discuss specifics because of privacy concerns.

The appeal comes amid broader scrutiny of US policy toward Israel and treatment of Palestinian detainees. As background, Al Jazeera noted that rights groups and UN officials have previously documented abuse allegations in Israeli detention facilities, though those claims were not specifically adjudicated in the article.