The war on Palestinian journalists

JVL Introduction

Ali Al-Samoudi was arrested and held without charge or any due process for a year in Israel’s “cemeteries for the living”. He entered weighing 120lbs and left a year later at half that weight. He is one of many journalists targeted by Israel; the c 270 killed in Gaza and c 100 incarcerated by Israel into their torture chambers.  Why are journalists targeted in this way? As Al-Samoudi says: “After they killed Shireen and wounded me, I said that shooting at us was a message of intimidation to every Palestinian journalist and media worker. They do not want documentation or witnesses to what they are doing in the West Bank. My arrest confirmed this.”

Here Al-Samouidi and fellow journalist Samer Amin Khuwaira describe the conditions in which they, along with most other prisoners were kept. Both were denied the medical treatment they needed for underlying conditions. We are reminded that at least 98 Palestinian prisoners have died as a result of such medical neglect and/or torture since October 2023.  Families are also unable to visit, phone or write.

This article was originally published by +972 Magazine on Mon 1 Jun 2026. Read the original here.