RAMALLAH, August 12, 2026 (WAFA) — The Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS) said that around 40 Palestinian journalists, including five women, are currently held in Israeli prisons, following the arrest of journalist Mohammad Awad from Ramallah early today.
The society said documentation and monitoring indicate that more than 250 Palestinian journalists have been arrested or detained since the beginning of the Gaza war, including those who remain in detention and those who were subsequently released. Three other journalists also remain under house arrest, it said, describing the measures as part of a systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists.
More than 260 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war, including two who died in Israeli prisons, according to the society. The fate of journalists Nidal al-Wahidi and Haitham Abdul Wahid remains unknown amid their continued enforced disappearance.
The society said Israeli authorities continue to escalate their targeting of Palestinian journalists through systematic arrests, as well as daily attacks against journalists while they carry out their work, in addition to the killing of journalists in the Gaza Strip.
It described the period as one of the deadliest for journalists, saying the targeting is part of continued efforts to prevent the truth and the Palestinian narrative from being conveyed.
According to the society, Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank also target journalists through administrative detention, without charge or trial, under the pretext of a so-called "secret file." It said 19 journalists are currently being held under administrative detention.
Journalists are also targeted on charges of what Israeli authorities call "incitement," including over the exercise of freedom of opinion and expression, the society said, adding that social media platforms have increasingly been used to suppress journalists and impose greater control and surveillance over their work.
The society further said Palestinian journalists face various systematic abuses experienced by Palestinian detainees, including starvation, medical abuse, torture, ill-treatment, sexual assault and harsh detention conditions.
It renewed its call on the international human rights system to restore its necessary role and end what it described as systematic inaction that has overshadowed the humanitarian system since the beginning of the war.
The society called for ensuring the protection of journalists and their right to carry out their work, which it said has been instrumental in documenting the scale of violations committed against the Palestinian people.
It stressed that the killing, arrest, torture and enforced disappearance of Palestinian journalists are part of a systematic policy aimed at suppressing the truth, preventing the reporting of conditions inside Israeli prisons and across the Palestinian territories, and restricting the Palestinian narrative.
K.T
