Israeli forces arrested 39-year-old Palestinian Bahaaeldin El Ghoul, a freelance journalist and content writer for several outlets, including Sadeel Media, at a military checkpoint on central Gaza’s Netzarim corridor on November 16, 2023, as he was fleeing south, the journalist told CPJ after his release on February 27, 2025.
El Ghoul told CPJ that he decided to flee after dialysis machines were no longer available in Gaza City because of the siege on hospitals, especially Al-Shifa Medical Complex. He said he was carrying his father while trying to reach central Gaza when Israeli soldiers arrested him at about 9 a.m. at the checkpoint.
He said Israeli soldiers interrogated him in the field about his journalistic work, then transferred him to a place called al-Baraksat in the Gaza envelope area, a buffer zone on the border of Israel and Gaza. He was then sent to the “disco center” for four days of interrogation under loud music, then to Sde Teiman detention camp, and later to Negev Prison.
From there, El Ghoul was released on February 27, 2025, in a prisoner hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas.
“My father died 13 days after my arrest,” Elghoul told CPJ.
El Ghoul said he appeared before a judge by video conference and was charged with being an unlawful combatant and with posing a danger to the State of Israel.
He said Israeli authorities gave detainees very small quantities of food, and that he entered Israeli detention weighing 74 kilograms (163 pounds) and lost about 20 kilograms (44 pounds) while in custody.
El Ghoul 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.”
El Ghoul did not appear in CPJ's 2024 prison census, nor in the 2023 prison census, because CPJ was not aware of his case until his release.