More than 40 members of the United States Congress have written to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to use all available means to secure the release of Sama Safi, a 20-year-old US citizen detained by the Israeli military since June 2026.

The lawmakers, led by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, warned that Safi's health is worsening under "appalling conditions" in Israeli custody. They emphasized that "every day that Sama remains wrongfully detained in these inhumane conditions, she is at greater risk of irreversible and life-threatening repercussions."

The letter describes Safi's detention conditions as including repeated verbal abuse, painful stress positions, rapidly spreading infectious skin disease, rats, and mattresses reeking of feces.

This call follows a precedent where Israel detained another American teenager, Mohammed Ibrahim, for nine months last year and released him only after US lawmakers raised concerns about his health and treatment.

Alice Jill Edwards, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, reported in May 2026 that emergency measures introduced after October 7, 2023, exposed Palestinian detainees to torture, potentially unlawful deaths, incommunicado detention, and degrading conditions.

The US State Department declined to comment on congressional correspondence or specifics of Safi's case, citing privacy concerns.

Sources