release'' Amro, calling his detention "extremely concerning.''

In June, 32 members of Congress signed a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urging him to persuade Israeli authorities to drop charges against Amro. The lawmakers expressed concern that some of the allegations against him are "not internationally recognizable criminal offenses'' and that the military court "will not render a fair and impartial verdict.''

In July, two United Nations human rights rapporteurs said the Israeli charges against him were "directed squarely at his lawful right to peacefully protest.''

Amro, like several other Palestinian journalists, was arrested and charged with disturbing public order under a recently passed Electronic Crimes Law, and "causing strife'' under a 1960 Jordanian law. Human rights organizations have noted a spike in journalists arrested by the Palestinian Authority inthe West Bank, particularly after the implementation of the vaguely worded decree in July.

The law enables the Palestinian Authority government to jail those who harm "national unity'' or the "social fabric'' online. Critics say the edict, issued without prior public debate, is perhaps the most significant step yet by Abbas' government to restrict freedom of expression in the autonomous Palestinian enclaves of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Amnesty International reported that Palestinian Authority security services arrested at least six journalists in August and shut down dozens of websites in a major crackdown on free speech.