Sama Safi
Safi, a student at Birzeit University, was reportedly taken from her family’s home in the occupied West Bank during late-night military raids June 2. @reprashida/Instagram

Forty US lawmakers, including six senators, have warned that a 20-year-old American student held without trial in an Israeli military prison could suffer 'life-threatening' organ damage unless she receives urgent medical care, as they demand her immediate release in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Sama Safi, who studies at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, was reportedly seized from her family home during a late-night Israeli military raid on 2 June. She suffers from Familial Mediterranean Fever, a chronic inflammatory disease, and the bipartisan letter says her condition has 'rapidly deteriorated' in custody, with doctors warning of 'life-threatening damage to her internal organs' unless she is treated.

The lawmakers say Rubio's department has 'a duty to secure the safety and security of US citizens abroad' and accuse officials of allowing 'further irreparable harm' to occur 'on your watch'. Safi was briefly released on medical grounds before being returned to detention on 16 August. Since then, the letter alleges, she has not received her daily medication and has not been seen by medical staff.

Torture Claims and Legal Concerns

The letter details what the lawmakers describe as systematic mistreatment. Citing Safi's own testimony, they say she was shackled and blindfolded and denied food and water for the first 24 hours of her detention. They further allege that Israeli forces used stun grenades and gas canisters in poorly ventilated cells and forced detainees into stress positions, leaving Safi with severe chest pain.

The signatories characterise the treatment as part of a 'de facto State policy of organised and widespread torture', arguing it is not confined to a single facility. They say Safi's transfer from the West Bank to Damon prison near Haifa breaches the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the movement of detainees from occupied territory into the territory of the occupying power.

Legal experts have long cited such transfers as a violation of international humanitarian law, and the lawmakers present her case as part of that wider pattern. Israeli authorities have not publicly detailed the grounds for Safi's arrest or responded to the specific allegations of abuse and medical neglect, and the claims have not been independently verified.

US Response Under Scrutiny

The US administration has confirmed it is aware of the case but has offered little beyond that. In June, a State Department spokesperson told Anadolu Agency that officials were 'aware of the detention of an American in the West Bank' and said the administration takes seriously its responsibility to assist citizens abroad.

The spokesperson said the situation was being 'monitored' but declined to provide further detail, citing privacy considerations.

That response contrasts with the language now being used by members of Congress, who are pressing for direct intervention rather than continued monitoring.

A Single Case in a Wider Pattern

Safi's case sits within a much larger pattern of detentions. According to Palestinian records cited in the lawmakers' letter, around 23,000 people have been detained in the occupied West Bank since the war in Gaza began.

Rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns about conditions in Israeli military prisons, though such allegations are rarely accompanied by the political weight of a formal congressional letter naming an American citizen.

With Safi said to remain without adequate medical care, pressure is likely to build on the State Department to move beyond monitoring and press Israel directly for her release, particularly given the bipartisan nature of the intervention and the seriousness of the medical claims involved.

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