The Haifa District Court postponed, on Thursday (March 26, 2026), the hearing on confirming the administrative detention order issued against activist Tamer Khalifa. The decision came in response to a request by the defense team, in order to allow full access to all investigation materials. The court found that the materials disclosed thus far were partial and insufficient for preparing the defense. During the session, the judge emphasized the defense’s right to review all relevant materials, noting that they may contain information essential to building the case, and scheduled a new hearing for next Tuesday at 11:00 a.m.

Khalifa is represented by a legal team including Attorney Dr. Hassan Jabareen and Attorney Hadeel Abu Saleh from Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, along with Attorney Omar Khamaisi from the Meezaan Center for Human Rights.

Israeli authorities had issued a six-month administrative detention order against Khalifa approximately one week after his release under house arrest outside his hometown by court decision. He had previously been released by the Haifa Magistrate’s Court after about 15 days of detention and interrogation, only to be re-arrested on the final day of his house arrest. The administrative detention order was signed by Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz, effective as of March 25.

In response, the defense team stated that this sequence of events exposes a clear contradiction in the prosecution’s claims. On the one hand, the authorities allege a security threat justifying administrative detention; on the other, they had released him and allowed him to remain free for several days. The defense argued that this contradiction undermines the credibility of the alleged “security risk” and indicates that the use of administrative detention in this case amounts to political persecution aimed at restricting freedom of expression among Palestinian citizens. The team affirmed that it will continue to challenge these measures through legal avenues.