RAMALLAH, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said on Wednesday that around 40 Palestinian journalists are currently being held in Israeli prisons, including five women, following the arrest of journalist Mohammed Awad from Ramallah earlier in the day.
In a statement, the PPS said Israeli authorities are also continuing to place three journalists under house arrest, describing the measures as part of a systematic campaign targeting Palestinian journalists and press freedom.
The PPS said more than 250 male and female journalists have been arrested or detained since the start of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, according to its monitoring and documentation. Some remain in detention, while others have since been released.
It added that more than 260 journalists have been killed since the start of the war, including two who died in Israeli prisons. The fate of journalists Nidal al-Wahidi and Haitham Abdel Wahed remains unknown amid their continued enforced disappearance.
The PPS said Israel has intensified its targeting of Palestinian journalists through systematic arrests, alongside the daily attacks they face while carrying out their work. It described the killing of journalists in the Gaza Strip as one of the deadliest periods for journalists.
The PPS said these practices are part of continuing attempts to suppress the truth and the Palestinian narrative and prevent journalists from reporting violations and crimes taking place on the ground.
It noted that Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank use administrative detention against journalists without charge or trial, citing what they describe as “secret files.” According to the PPS, 19 journalists are currently being held under administrative detention.
The PPS added that journalists are also targeted over what Israeli authorities describe as “incitement” in connection with their exercise of freedom of opinion and expression, while social media platforms have increasingly become a tool for suppressing journalists and imposing greater surveillance and control over their work.
The group warned that Palestinian journalists in detention are subjected to the same abuses faced by other prisoners, including starvation, medical neglect, torture, mistreatment, sexual assaults and harsh detention conditions.
The PPS renewed its call on the international human rights community to fulfill its responsibilities and ensure the protection of journalists and their right to carry out their work, noting that journalism has played a crucial role in exposing the scale of crimes committed against the Palestinian people.
It said the killing, arrest, torture and enforced disappearance of Palestinian journalists constitute a systematic policy aimed at obscuring the truth, preventing reporting on conditions inside Israeli prisons and across the Palestinian territories, and suppressing the Palestinian narrative.
Israeli forces arrested journalist Mohammed Awad early Wednesday after raiding his home in Beitunia, west of Ramallah, as part of an arrest campaign that rounded up nine Palestinians across different areas of the occupied West Bank.
According to the figures cited, Israeli authorities are currently holding around 9,400 Palestinian prisoners, including 94 women, 350 children, 3,244 administrative detainees held without charge, and 1,320 detainees held under what Israel calls the “Unlawful Combatants Law.” More than 24,600 arrests have been recorded since the start of the war on Gaza.
