From the Liveblog of
Thursday, June 4, 2026
US senator demands release of US citizen seized by IDF in West Bank on Tuesday
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US Senator Chris Van Hollen calls for the release of Sama Safi, a 20-year-old American citizen, who was among the Birzeit University students arrested by the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday.
“Israeli security forces came to her home at 3 a.m. in the morning, and just took her without explanation. She told them she was an American citizen. They didn’t care,” Van Hollen reports, in a video posted to X.
The IDF said at the time that the four women were suspected of “promoting terrorist activities and additional terrorism-related activities.”
Safi has a medical condition that needs treatment, Van Hollen reports he was told by the student’s mother.
The Democratic senator says Israel is holding Safi without charges, and has not told her family or the US Embassy where she is being held or why.
He calls on US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to ensure the American’s immediate release.
“We’ve seen this happen before. In fact, we’ve seen American citizens killed by violent Israeli settlers and by security forces without accountability,” he says.
“I am really sick and tired of the Israeli government — the Netanyahu government — taking American taxpayer dollars and then mistreating Americans,” the senator concludes.
Yesterday, the IDF seized 4 students from their homes in the West Bank, including 20-year-old American, Sama Safi.
The Israeli govt didn’t tell her family or the U.S. Embassy where or why she was being taken & is holding her without charges.
America must secure her release NOW. pic.twitter.com/sh4dI7JGP3
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) June 3, 2026
The Times of Israel Community.