Dozens of Palestinian journalists beaten, starved or raped, report alleges

"Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reviewed dozens of testimonies, photographs and medical records documenting what it describes as serious abuses by Israeli soldiers and prison guards against Palestinian reporters. The report draws on in-depth interviews from 59 Palestinian journalists. Of those interviewed, 58 reported being subjected to what they described as torture while in Israeli custody. While conditions varied at different facilities, the methods those interviewed recounted physical assaults, forced stress positions, sensory deprivation, sexual violence, and medical neglect were strikingly consistent, the report"

"Journalist Sami al-Sai, who has reported for the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera Mubasher and the local broadcaster Al-Fajer TV, said he was taken to a small cell in Megiddo prison, and soldiers removed his trousers and underwear, and penetrated him with batons and other objects. I did not speak to anyone inside the prison about what happened, except for two senior detainees who have been imprisoned for 25 years, Sai said."

"In December 2025, German journalist Anne Liedtke, detained onboard a Gaza-bound flotilla, alleged Israeli soldiers raped her while in custody. Italian journalist Vincenzo Fullone and Australian activist Surya McEwen made similar accusations. Shadi Abu Sido, a Palestinian journalist from Gaza who works for Palestine Today, was released after 20 months in detention at Sde Teiman last October. He had been seized by Israeli forces at al-Shifa hospital on 18 March 2024, and said he was shackled, blindfolded, and forced through a corridor of"

Dozens of testimonies, photographs and medical records document alleged abuses against nearly 60 Palestinian journalists detained since 7 October 2023. Fifty-nine journalists were interviewed, and 58 said they experienced torture in custody. Reported methods include physical assaults, forced stress positions, sensory deprivation, sexual violence including rape, and medical neglect across multiple detention facilities. Specific cases include journalists who described sexual penetration with objects, allegations of rape by foreign journalists detained on a flotilla, and a Gaza reporter seized at al-Shifa who said he was shackled and blindfolded. Israeli authorities have rejected the allegations.

Read at www.theguardian.com