On December 7, 2023, Israeli security forces arrested Palestinian journalist Diaa al-Kahlout, chief bureau correspondent for the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Araby al-Jadeed, in Beit Lahia, along with several family members. Al-Kahlout was released on January 9, 2024, after 33 days in detention.
Al-Kahlout told the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem that soldiers forced him and about 300 other men to strip down to their underwear in the cold, before binding their hands behind their backs and blindfolding them. They were transported to Zikim military base on the coast, still nearly naked and exposed to harsh December temperatures.
Al-Kahlout told CPJ in an April 2024 interview that he was repeatedly beaten, insulted, and mocked, despite clearly identifying himself as a journalist, during interrogations by the Israeli army and Shin Bet intelligence, and had his mouth taped shut to stop him arguing.
In the B’Tselem account, al-Kahlout said an Israeli soldier struck him from behind while he was forced to crouch, blindfolded, as interrogators accused him of terrorism and being a Hamas commander. He said Shin Bet officers questioned him over a 2018 Al-Araby al-Jadeed article, written by someone else, about Sayeret Matkal, a failed Israeli operation in Gaza.
Al-Kahlout said he was transferred to the Sde Teiman military camp, where prisoners were corralled “like sheep” and subjected to cold, deprivation of food and water, and frequent beatings. Al-Kahlout spent 33 days there and was moved repeatedly between barracks.
He told CPJ that he endured prolonged stress positions, constant blindfolding, forced kneeling, sleep deprivation, denial of bathroom access, and interrogations about his reporting and journalistic communication with Palestinian officials. Al-Kahlout said in an interview with Al-Araby TV that he was beaten and put in stress positions on days when international organizations made statements about him.
On January 9, 2024, he was taken by bus to Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza and left there, empty handed.
Al-Kahlout told CPJ that he lost 45 kilograms (99 pounds) in custody and experienced a severe spinal disc injury, chest infections, and foot wounds. He added that he experiences ongoing trauma, including persistent back pain, inflammation, sleep disturbance, and an inability to see clearly following his prolonged blindfolding.
CPJ could not independently verify al-Kahlout’s allegations, but they are in line with human rights groups’ descriptions of the treatment of some Palestinians in Israeli custody.
Al-Kahlout 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.”