Ghassan
Najjar

Update, 12 November 2026: Ghassan Najjar has been held by Israel without charge since his arrest on 27 October 2026. On 10 November 2026 Palestinian media, citing the Commission of Detainees' Affairs, reported an administrative detention order against him running to 26 February 2027; Amnesty International and Front Line Defenders had not yet confirmed the order.

Background and Work

Ghassan Najjar is a 36-year-old Palestinian farmer, grassroots organiser and land defender from Burin, south of Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank. His work focuses on Palestinian farmers' access to their agricultural land and on helping communities withstand occupation, settler violence and displacement. He co-founded the Burin Land and Farming Cooperative, which promotes agroecology, food sovereignty, environmental justice and mutual aid among farmers. He coordinates the Sumud network, which supports farmers and shepherds, including during the olive harvest, and he created Burin's annual kite festival and leads other cultural initiatives.

He has been detained by Israel before. Amnesty International says he has spent about four years in Israeli jails and was first arrested at the age of 15; Front Line Defenders says he has spent nearly a decade in Israeli prisons, much of it under administrative detention. Since 2011 the Israeli internal security agency, the Shin Bet, has barred him from leaving the occupied West Bank, according to Front Line Defenders, which adds that his family has also faced threats and intimidation linked to his work.

The Arrest

Amnesty International reported that he received repeated threats from the start of the 2026 olive harvest season, which intensified in the week before his arrest, and that Israeli intelligence agents explicitly told him he would be arrested if he did not stop his activism. Front Line Defenders reported that Shin Bet agents threatened to detain him if he continued coordinating the olive harvest in the Nablus area.

At about 3:00 a.m. on 27 October 2026 Israeli forces arrested him at his home in Burin. His whereabouts were unknown for more than 36 hours. His lawyer was then told that he would be taken to the Salem interrogation centre for questioning. He has since been held at the Huwara military detention facility near Nablus. Front Line Defenders placed the arrest in the context of 3,133 attacks by Israeli forces and settlers across the West Bank recorded by the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission in October 2026, 636 of them in Nablus Governorate.

Detention Conditions and Health

No public report has described his treatment or health in custody. Front Line Defenders has asked the Israeli authorities to guarantee his physical and psychological integrity and his unrestricted access to his lawyer and family.

Legal Proceedings

No charge has been brought against him. A military interrogator told his lawyer that he was likely to be placed under administrative detention, which allows detention without charge or trial for renewable periods on secret evidence. Amnesty International reported on 6 November 2026 that he was expected to appear at a hearing on 8 November; the outcome of that hearing has not been published. On 10 and 11 November 2026 several Palestinian outlets, An-Najah News, Safa, Al-Hadaf and Shams News, relayed a list from the Commission of Detainees' Affairs that includes an administrative detention order against Ghassan Zeidan Saleh Najjar of Burin for about three and a half months, from 10 November 2026 to 26 February 2027.

International Response

On 5 November 2026 Front Line Defenders and Amnesty International called for his immediate and unconditional release. Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International's Senior Director for Research, Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, said the Israeli authorities must release him immediately. On 6 November 2026 Amnesty International UK urged that he not be placed in administrative detention.