Al Jazeera says the Palestinian journalist and activist was released without significant restrictions after a court extended his detention; he says he will continue his work.
Israeli police have released Palestinian journalist and political activist Abed Abou Shhadeh after 5 days in detention, Al Jazeera said. The outlet said his release came without significant restrictions.
On 4 November 2026, Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court had ordered him held until 8 November. Police had requested an 8-day extension on suspicion of “contact with a foreign agent.”
Abou Shhadeh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, hosts the al-Midan podcast for the Arab48 website. He described his arrest as politically motivated and said he would continue his work and fight for equality and justice.
Security forces detained Abou Shhadeh after raiding his home in Jaffa overnight on Tuesday. His lawyer later located him at a Shin Bet security agency facility in Petah Tikva. Before his release, Adalah, a legal rights group on his defense team, said it would appeal the detention decision.
Adalah founder Hassan Jabareen said Abou Shhadeh had been charged with receiving money from foreign agents to support Arab-Israeli voters. Jabareen called the allegations fabricated and said there was no evidence Abou Shhadeh had received money from anyone.
Israeli media linked the arrest to an interview Abou Shhadeh conducted in Qatar with Palestinian intellectual Azmi Bishara, a former member of Israel’s parliament and former leader of the Arab-Israeli party Balad. Abou Shhadeh’s lawyers said his interrogation focused solely on that interview.
Adalah said police raised no allegations beyond the publicly available interview, which covered the Israeli election campaign and Palestinians. The defense argued that Bishara was not a foreign agent and that interviewing him could not establish suspicion of a criminal offense. Lawyers also said the interview was not a secret meeting and that investigators already had Abou Shhadeh’s phone and computer, leaving no real risk that he would obstruct the investigation.
The target covers the quarterly proportion of care leavers aged 18–24 in England owed homelessness help by councils, with the government aiming to halve it by 2029/30.
Adalah lawyer Hadeel Abu Salih called the investigation a campaign to silence Palestinian journalists and activists. She said police were warning Palestinians in Israel that even a public conversation with a political figure could lead to detention.
Jabareen alleged that the Shin Bet leadership and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to portray Arab voters and parties as illegitimate and prevent a coalition with opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot. In its November 5 account, Al Jazeera said neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor Eisenkot’s opposition had won the previous week’s election; both needed smaller partners, and an alliance of Arab-led parties was a potential partner after record gains.
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