On April 29, 2025, prominent Palestinian journalist Ali Al-Samoudi, who works for the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper and the Qatari-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera, was arrested at his home in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. On ِMay 8, he was initially placed under six months of administrative detention.
On June 17, 2025 Al-Samoudi, who was being held in Ktzi’ot Prison in southern Israel’s Negev Desert, was tried via video conference by Israel’s Ofer Military Court, his lawyer Riyad Arada told CPJ. He was charged with “harming the security of the region” and “mishandling funds,” said Arada, adding that the charges were baseless and that they were retaliation for Al-Samoudi’s journalism and influence.
On June 27, the court reduced his administrative detention by two months, to end on September 4, Arada told CPJ. But on September 4, Al-Samoudi’s detention was extended by four months, until January 3, 2026, Arada told CPJ.
Al-Samoudi has diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as shrapnel wounds from three decades of reporting from the West Bank. In 2022, he was shot while working with Al Jazeera’s Shireen Abu Akleh on the day she was killed.
In September, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said Al-Samoudi was being held in harsh, inhumane conditions in Ktzi’ot Prison and had been denied medical treatment since his arrest.
The commission said he had been “handcuffed and blindfolded for 80 hours without food, water, or medicine” and beaten, and that guards had broken his eyeglasses.
Al-Quds reported that Al-Samoudi had lost 40 kilograms (88 pounds) while in custody.
Al-Samoudi’s son, Mohammed, told CPJ on January 2, 2026 that his father was in Megiddo prison, and experiencing severe medical neglect. Mohammed said his father told lawyer Diaa Muhaisen verbally that he is denied access to medication and has developed severe migraines, partial hearing loss in his left ear, heart palpitations and bleeding gums, as well as substantial weight loss.
Al-Samoudi was supposed to be released on January 3, 2026, however an Israeli court extended his detention for an additional four months.
Al-Samoudi was released April 30, 2026, after 12 months in Israeli detention.
Upon his release, Al-Samoudi spoke on video about the severe malnutrition he and other detainees experienced. He said that he lost around 60 kilograms (132 pounds) of his weight, the largest weight loss CPJ has recorded of released Palestinian journalists to date. Al-Samoudi described prison as “real hell,” and urged for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
CPJ’s email to the Israeli Prison Service for comment did not receive an immediate reply.