Palestinian journalists jailed by Israel have reported widespread abuse in custody, together with routine beatings, hunger and sexual assault, in line with testimony printed by the Worldwide Committee to Defend Journalists (CPJ).
In a February 19 report, the media rights group mentioned it interviewed 59 Palestinian journalists imprisoned by Israel after the Hamas-led assaults of October 2023. All however one reported experiencing “torture, abuse or different types of violence”, it mentioned.
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The alleged abuse meted out by Israeli authorities ranged from baton beatings and electroshocks to excruciating stress positions – together with underneath sewage water – in addition to sexual violence. Two journalists mentioned they had been raped.
Journalist Sami al-Sai mentioned troopers stripped him and penetrated him with a baton and different objects in a small cell in Israel’s Megiddo jail, an ordeal he mentioned left him in a “extreme psychological state”.
“Descriptions of sexual violence appeared repeatedly within the testimonies, with journalists describing assaults as supposed to humiliate, terrorise and completely scar them”, mentioned the CPJ report.
‘We are going to kill your loved ones’
Different accounts detailed psychological abuse, together with threats to kill relations, sleep deprivation via loud music and medical neglect, corresponding to being denied remedy for extreme bone fractures and eye accidents.
Journalist Amin Baraka mentioned he was repeatedly threatened for his work with Al Jazeera.
“An Israeli soldier informed me, phrase for phrase in Arabic, ‘Al Jazeera correspondent Wael al-Dahdouh defied us and remained within the Gaza Strip, so we killed his household. We are going to kill your loved ones, too,’” Baraka informed CPJ.
“In each jail they transferred me to, I used to be subjected to bodily abuse. I nonetheless undergo from the blows to my abdomen … and I want surgical procedure,” he added.
CPJ mentioned the reviews of abuse from dozens of journalists expose a “clear sample”.
“These aren’t remoted incidents”, mentioned CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “They expose a deliberate technique to intimidate and silence journalists, and destroy their capability to bear witness.”
‘There must be accountability’
Lots of the jailed journalists had been additionally denied fundamental authorized protections, mentioned CPJ.
Eighty p.c of these interviewed had been held underneath Israel’s system of administrative detention, that means no expenses had been introduced towards them. One in 4 mentioned they had been by no means allowed to talk to a lawyer at any time, in line with the watchdog.
On the similar time, the overwhelming majority of these interviewed reported experiencing “excessive starvation or malnutrition”, corroborated by photographs CPJ reviewed exhibiting detainees’ “gaunt faces, protruding ribs and hollowed cheeks”.
Some journalists mentioned they survived solely on “moldy bread and rotten meals”.
The CPJ mentioned the detainees misplaced a median of 23.5 kilogrammes (54 kilos) whereas in custody.
“We returned from hell”, journalist Imad Ifranji mentioned.
CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg referred to as for the worldwide group to “take motion” towards the alleged widespread mistreatment of journalists in Israeli jails.
“Humanitarian legislation units unequivocal requirements for the remedy of detainees, and there must be significant accountability for failure to satisfy these requirements,” mentioned Ginsberg.
Israeli authorities have lengthy confronted allegations of rampant abuse focusing on Palestinian prisoners of their custody, together with torture and rape, significantly on the infamous Sde Teiman facility. Final 12 months, leaked footage documented Israeli jail guards gang-raping a Palestinian inmate at Sde Teiman, prompting a scandal in Israel.
Israeli Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir beforehand celebrated the “abominable circumstances” of Palestinian prisoners and pledged to maintain meals provisions on the “naked minimal” required by legislation.
Israel’s focusing on of Palestinian journalists throughout its genocidal struggle in Gaza can also be properly documented. Almost 300 journalists and media staff have been killed by Israeli assaults in Gaza for the reason that struggle broke out, in line with a tally by Shireen.ps, a monitoring web site named after Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot useless by Israeli forces within the occupied West Financial institution in 2022.
In one in all its deadliest assaults in August 2025, Israel carried out a “double-tap” strike on a hospital within the south of Gaza that killed 5 journalists, together with Al Jazeera photographer Mohammad Salama, in addition to contributors to Reuters and The Related Press information companies.
