‘They returned from hell’: human rights organization exposes “deliberate strategy” of food deprivation and sexual abuse against Palestinian journalists detained in Israeli prisons
Palestinian journalists detained by Israel described systematic torture, sexual violence and starvation inside Israeli prisons, according to a report published Thursday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
The report, titled “We’re back from hell,” is based on interviews with 59 Palestinian journalists imprisoned since October 2023.
All but one said they had suffered “torture, abuse or other forms of violence.”
The testimonies detail beatings with batons, electric shocks and situations of prolonged stress, including being forced to stand under sewage water. Two journalists said they were raped by their Israeli captors.
Journalist Sami al-Sai reported how soldiers stripped him naked and penetrated him with a baton and other objects inside a small cell in Megiddo prison, leaving him in a “serious psychological state.”
“Descriptions of sexual violence appeared repeatedly in the statements, with journalists describing the assaults as intended to humiliate, terrorize and permanently scar the victims,” the report states.
Others described threats against their families, sleep deprivation due to loud music playing, and denial of urgent medical care, including treatment for broken bones and eye injuries.
“CPJ’s reports show a clear pattern in the treatment of Palestinian journalists in Israeli custody,” said the organization’s CEO, Jodie Ginsberg.
“The scale and consistency of these testimonies point to something far beyond isolated cases of misconduct,” she added.
“When dozens of journalists independently describe physical and psychological abuse, the international community needs to act.”
‘We’re going to kill your family’
Journalist Amin Baraka said interrogators threatened his family because of his work at Al Jazeera.
“An Israeli soldier told me, word for word in Arabic, that Al Jazeera correspondent Wael al-Dahdouh defied us and stayed in the Gaza Strip, so we killed his family, and we will kill yours too,” he said.
Dahdouh, Al Jazeera Arabic’s Gaza bureau chief, lost his wife, daughter, son and grandson in an Israeli airstrike while they were sheltering in a relative’s home.
He was later injured in another attack that killed his colleague Samer Abudaqa.
CPJ stated that 80% of those interviewed were in administrative detention without formal charges.
One in four said they had never met a lawyer and the majority reported suffering from extreme hunger.
CPJ analyzed photographs that showed “thin faces, protruding ribs, and sunken cheeks.”
Some detainees survived by eating “moldy bread and spoiled food,” losing an average of 50 pounds each.
A journalist, Sami al-Sai, said soldiers attacked the place where he had recently had kidney surgery, despite him informing them about the operation.
“We came back from hell,” Imad Ifranji told CPJ, using the term detainees used to describe a section of Israel’s notorious Sde Teiman prison.
“These are not isolated incidents,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ regional director.
“They expose a deliberate strategy to intimidate and silence journalists, destroying their ability to testify.”
Nearly 300 Palestinian journalists and media professionals have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza since October 2023, in what has been described as the most dangerous place for journalists in the world.
Originally published by Middle East Eye on 2/19/2026
But Elis Gjevori
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2026/02/19/observatorio-de-imprensa-expoe-tortura-de-jornalistas-palestinos-por-israel/
