49 Palestinian Journalists Held in Israeli Jails: Prisoner Advocacy Groups
Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- The total number of Palestinian journalists currently in Israeli jails has reached 49, prisoner advocacy groups said on Saturday, adding that Israeli forces have arrested at least 180 reporters since the start of the genocide in Gaza.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), the Commission of Prisoners’ and Ex-Prisoners’, and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association have released a joint statement on World Press Freedom Day.
Israeli occupation forces have carried out at least 180 arrests among Palestinian journalists both in the West Bank and Gaza since the start of the genocide in Ocotber 2023, the prisoner defense groups said.
Among the 180 arrests, 49 Palestinian journalists who were detained after the genocide began remain behind bars, in addition to six others who were arrested beforehand.
Prisoner groups noted that the occupation continues to forcibly disappear Palestinian journalists Nidal Al-Wahidi and Haitham Abdel Wahid who were abducted from Gaza. Since October 7, the occupation has refused to reveal their fate – whether they are alive or not – despite efforts by numerous human rights organizations and ongoing demands for information. It is known that the occupation employed enforced disappearance broadly against detainees from Gaza.
Among the 49 detained journalists, 19 are being held under the so-called “administrative detention” policy without trial or charge.
This policy has affected thousands of Palestinians in an ongoing attempt to impose greater control and censorship, depriving them of their right to freedom of opinion and expression, and preventing them from exposing the occupation’s crimes that permeate every aspect of Palestinian life.
Many journalists have been subject to administrative detention — some have been released, while others remain imprisoned. One such case is journalist Nidal Abu Aker from Bethlehem, who has spent nearly 20 years in occupation prisons, most of it under administrative detention.
Detained journalists face all the violations endured by other prisoners, including systematic torture, severe beatings, starvation, medical neglect, and continuous humiliation and abuse. They are held under harsh and degrading detention conditions and are continuously deprived of their rights, the groups added.
