Israel Detains 37 Palestinian Journalists amid Torture and Medical Neglect

September 14, 2026

Israeli occupation forces detained Palestinian journalist Mohammed Awad near Ramallah. (Photo: via social media)

facebook sharing button Sharetwitter sharing button Postpinterest sharing button Pinemail sharing button Emailsharethis sharing button Share

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Israel held 37 Palestinian journalists while detainees described torture and medical neglect in Israeli prisons.

Key Developments

Israel held 37 Palestinian journalists, including 19 under administrative detention without charge or trial, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said.

Detainees at Ofer Prison reported beatings, medical neglect, unhygienic conditions and the spread of scabies.

Palestinian Authority forces extended journalist and social activist Ghassan Najajra’s detention for three days over his social and human rights activities.

Israel was holding 37 Palestinian journalists in its prisons, including 19 under administrative detention without charge or trial, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said on Sunday.

According to the nongovernmental rights organization, all 37 journalists were detained following the beginning of the Israeli genocide in Gaza in October 2023.

The Society said Israeli authorities continued to target Palestinian journalists through arrests, prison sentences, solitary confinement and prosecution over their reporting and exercise of freedom of expression.

Among the latest journalists detained were Muath Ammarna and Sabri Jibrin, who were arrested on Thursday after Israeli forces raided their homes in Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank.

Ammarna has been repeatedly targeted by Israeli authorities and was detained for the third time because of his journalistic work, the organization said.

Journalist and writer Mahmoud Fatafta was sentenced to 48 months in prison over what Israeli authorities described as “incitement.” The Society said it was one of the harshest sentences imposed in such cases.

According to the organization, Israeli authorities have increasingly used accusations of “incitement” against Palestinian journalists alongside administrative detention orders based on undisclosed evidence described as “secret files.”

The 19 journalists held under administrative detention came from the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem.

Isolation, Hunger, Neglect

The Society also highlighted the case of 33-year-old journalist Bushra al-Tawil, who was transferred from Damon Prison in northern Israel to solitary confinement at Ramla Prison.

It accused Israeli prison authorities of escalating isolation and other punitive measures against Palestinian women detainees while subjecting them to food deprivation, denial of medical treatment and inadequate sanitation.

The organization said detained journalists experienced the same conditions imposed on other Palestinian detainees, including hunger, torture, abuse, medical neglect, solitary confinement and deprivation of basic rights.

It described the detention of journalists as part of a wider Israeli policy that also included killings, enforced disappearances and direct attacks against media workers documenting Israeli crimes and violations.

Beatings and Cigarette Burns

Separately, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs reported deteriorating health and humanitarian conditions among detainees held at Ofer Prison.

The Commission cited the case of Maher Rizq Abd al-Naasan, 60, from the village of Al-Mughayyir, who was detained at a temporary Israeli checkpoint near Ein Sinya on July 6.

Former detainees who encountered al-Naasan said Israeli forces severely beat him, held him beneath the sun for several hours and extinguished cigarettes on his body.

Israeli forces also confiscated his vehicle for one week and seized personal documents, identification papers and land ownership records that were inside it.

Al-Naasan suffered from several chronic medical conditions that worsened because of his detention and lack of medical treatment.

He had a herniated disc and had been scheduled to undergo surgery before his detention. He also suffered from inflammation in one leg joint, colon problems and abdominal pain.

The Commission said he continued to experience acute pain in his shoulder, back and chest following the assault, with signs of the beatings still visible on his body.

Al-Naasan, a former senior officer in the Palestinian security services and father of seven, was serving the second month of a four-month administrative detention order.

Scabies Spreads

Another detainee, 23-year-old Rafiq Raed Qabaj from Al-Bireh, suffered from an elevated heart rate that predated his detention and required medication to regulate it.

He had also contracted scabies, which the Commission said had spread throughout his section because of poor sanitation.

Qabaj, a university student studying pharmacy, was detained on February 12 and had received two consecutive four-month administrative detention orders.

Detainee Ali Abd Eid Barghouti, from Beit Rima, said Palestinians inside Ofer struggled to maintain basic personal hygiene.

Detainees could not change their clothing regularly and were forced to wash it during their limited recreation period without cleaning products. Supplies were insufficient for all detainees sharing a room, while underwear was particularly scarce.

Barghouti said these conditions contributed to the spread of scabies.

He also described repeated raids in which Israeli forces entered detainees’ rooms, searched and disrupted their belongings and confiscated personal items.

The prison administration prevented detainees from praying collectively and punished those who led communal prayers, he said.

The Commission demanded urgent intervention to provide appropriate medical care, particularly to elderly and chronically ill detainees, halt assaults and medical neglect and improve conditions inside Israeli prisons.

PA Extends Journalist’s Detention

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority’s security services in Bethlehem extended the detention of journalist and social activist Ghassan Najajra for three days.

Najajra, from the town of Nahhalin, was detained over his social and human rights activities, according to Lawyers for Justice.

The group said the Bethlehem Magistrates’ Court authorized the extension on Sunday.

“The continued detention of journalist and social activist Ghassan Najajra because of his activities constitutes a source of grave concern and directly infringes upon freedom of opinion, expression, journalistic work and community activism,” the group said.

Lawyers for Justice called for Najajra’s immediate release and demanded an end to the detention of journalists and activists because of their peaceful social and human rights work.

The group also called for respect for Najajra’s right to legal representation and a fair trial.