On November 20, 2023, Palestinian journalist Abdelhameed Hamdona was arrested while evacuating his family south during an Israeli offensive on Gaza City. Hamdona was released on October 13, 2025, as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, after nearly two years in detention.
The father of four from Gaza, a broadcaster and correspondent for the Hamas-affiliated radio station Radio Voice of Al-Aqsa and a freelance correspondent for Tunisia’s private Diwan Radio, told CPJ that Israeli forces identified him by name and detained him as they crossed the Netzarim checkpoint.
“The soldiers forced me to strip, interrogated me, and beat me severely on my back and body. They confiscated about 6,000 U.S. dollars I was carrying, insulted me, and demanded I confess to belonging to a Palestinian faction,” Hamdona said. “An officer even threatened to rape my wife, who was with me and our children.”
He said he was first taken to Israel’s Sde Teiman detention camp near Gaza, then transferred to Ktzi’ot Prison in the Negev Desert, where he remained until his release.
Hamdona said he was tortured, shackled for long hours, beaten, starved, and attacked by dogs during transfers between prisons. He added that many prisoners suffered from disease outbreaks, and that he nearly died twice due to boils and scabies that led to blood poisoning.
“We lost track of time and religious dates,” he said. “We would fast for Ramadan days late or celebrate Eid on the wrong day.”
He appeared four times via video conference before a military judge, who repeatedly extended his detention on the grounds that he was a “security threat to Israel” and designated him an “unlawful combatant.”
Hamdona said he lost 10 kilograms (22 pounds) during his imprisonment — to 65 kilograms (143 pounds) upon release — and dropped to 55 kilograms (121 pounds) at one point due to malnutrition and illness.
“They gave us food not enough for a child,” he said. “Once, I traded three days’ worth of meals just to get a shirt to protect myself from the cold.”
He described inhumane conditions, including restricted toilet access, cold-water showers during periods of extreme cold, and no access to hygiene supplies. "Inside the detention facilities, I was subjected to *shabeh* (stress-position torture), beatings, starvation, repression, and physical assault during transfers, in addition to attacks by police dogs. Furthermore, disease ravaged our ranks; I twice came close to death due to severe boils that led to blood poisoning, as well as scabies,” he said.
According to his account, he was also subjected to death threats by Israeli intelligence officers should he resume working in the media.
Hamdona was among the journalists whose testimony was included in the CPJ special report “We returned from hell,” published in February 2026, which compiles accounts from 58 journalists who reported patterns of abuse, torture, and mistreatment against Palestinian journalists inside Israeli prisons.
The Israeli military did not respond to CPJ’s repeated requests for comment on specific allegations by journalists in the report, instead requesting ID numbers and geographic coordinates that CPJ does not collect or provide. When asked about allegations of physical and sexual abuse, starvation, and the investigation and accountability process, an army spokesperson said “individuals detained are treated in accordance with international law,” adding that the armed forces “have never, and will never, deliberately target journalists,” and that any violations of protocol “will be looked into.”
CPJ also emailed the Israel Prison Service (IPS) regarding the allegations in the report. In response, the IPS said “all prisoners are detained according to the law” and that “all basic rights are fully upheld by professionally trained prison guards.” The service said it was unaware of the claims described, and that to its knowledge “no such events have occurred,” but noted that “prisoners and detainees have the right to file a complaint that will be fully examined and addressed by official authorities.”