RAMALLAH, July 2, 2025 (WAFA) – Twenty-two journalists are now being held under administrative detention in Israeli prisons, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), which reported an ongoing escalation by the Israeli occupation authorities in targeting journalists under the pretext of so-called “secret files.”
PPs noted that the most recent case involves journalist Ahmad Al-Khatib, who was issued a six-month administrative detention order.
These 22 are among 55 journalists currently held in Israeli prisons, 49 of whom have been detained since the beginning of the ongoing genocide.
PPS indicated that since the onset of the genocide, at least 192 cases of journalist detentions have been documented.
It further noted that the increase in the number of journalists held under administrative detention coincides with an unprecedented surge in the overall number of administrative detainees, which reached 3,562 as of early June 2025.
According to PPS, the Israeli occupation uses these detentions as a means to silence journalists, suppress their efforts to expose ongoing atrocities, undermine the Palestinian narrative, and impose greater censorship and control over media activity.
The statement cited the case of Nidal Abu Akar, a journalist from Bethlehem and one of the longest-serving administrative detainees. He has been imprisoned since August 1, 2022, and has previously spent around 20 years in Israeli prisons, most of them under administrative detention.
In addition to administrative detention, Israeli authorities continue to target journalists on charges of so-called “incitement” on social media. This form of detention has become a tool for silencing free speech and expression and is increasingly used as another manifestation of the broader policy of administrative detention.
The majority of those detained on charges of “incitement,” against whom the occupation was unable to file an indictment, were later transferred to administrative detention.
PPS added that detained journalists are subjected to the same violations faced by all Palestinian prisoners, including systematic torture, severe beatings, starvation, and medical neglect, as well as continuous humiliation and abuse. They are held under harsh and degrading conditions, further stripped of their rights and subjected to ongoing collective punishment.
T.R.
