RAMALLAH, (Palestine Foundation Information Center ) The Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPC) condemned the arrest of 27-year-old journalist Yasser Jaradat from the town of Sa’ir, north of al-Khalil, by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF).
In a statement on Thursday, PJPC said the arrest is part of a systematic Israeli policy aimed at intimidating journalists and silencing the truth in the occupied Palestinian territories.
According to the center, the IOF raided Jaradat’s home at dawn before taking him to an undisclosed location. Jaradat works as a reporter and photographer for the “Palestine Post” and several local outlets.
The center noted that violations against Palestinian journalists have sharply increased this year, documenting about 82 cases that included arrests, detentions, and harassment, most of them across West Bank towns and cities.
“These practices are part of an ongoing Israeli strategy to silence voices that document violations and expose to the world the reality on the ground,” PJPC said.
The center stressed that journalists continue to be targeted by Israel through arrest, threats, and even killings, calling on the United Nations and the Human Rights Council to urgently pressure Israel to end its “terror against journalists” and ensure safe conditions for media work.
It also voiced concern over the ill-treatment of journalists during detention, including insults, torture, interrogations without charges, and denial of legal representation, actions it described as flagrant violations of international human rights standards.
According to PJPC, 49 Palestinian journalists are currently held in Israeli prisons. Since the outbreak of the Gaza genocide on October 7, 2023, around 55 journalists have been arrested, including 22 placed under administrative detention without charges.
Since that date, the group has documented 192 cases of arrest, detention, and interrogation targeting journalists.
The center added that detention conditions include starvation, medical neglect, and isolation from society, stressing that such practices represent grave breaches of international humanitarian law and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees freedom of opinion and expression.
PJPC emphasized that international law and treaties signed by Israel require it to guarantee press freedom and the right of journalists to cover events without fear of arrest, retaliation, or death.
It noted that the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols grant journalists civilian status in armed conflicts, making their targeting or restriction a war crime.
The rights group called for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained journalists, especially those held under administrative detention, and for fair trials that include access to charges and the right to defense.
It also urged transparent, independent investigations into abuses against Palestinian journalists, with results published and perpetrators held accountable.
“Continuing these policies undermines press freedom and constitutes a blatant assault on fundamental rights guaranteed under international law,” the group said, urging the international community to compel Israel, as an occupying power, to uphold its obligations under humanitarian law and the ICCPR, and to protect civilians and press freedom as pillars of justice and accountability.
