On December 27, 2024, the Israeli army arrested 33-year-old Palestinian freelance photographer Islam Ahmed in northern Gaza, where he was documenting conditions at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Jabalia refugee camp. He told CPJ he has freelanced for the Middle East Eye and several other international outlets. Ahmed was released in the hostage–prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas on October 13, 2025.
“They arrested us and took us to the Zikim naval base in northern Gaza. I stayed there for three days in freezing cold weather and was tortured in multiple ways — beaten, handcuffed tightly so the cuffs cut into my skin, and forced to sit for hours on a chair with my hands and feet bound,” Ahmed told CPJ.
Ahmed described being subjected to electric shocks using a defibrillator device, which left severe burns on his chest.
“They used it as a torture tool,” he said. “The burns exposed the flesh. They also hurled insults at our mothers, sisters, and wives — part of the psychological abuse.”
Ahmed said Israeli authorities denied him the right to legal representation or attorney visits throughout his imprisonment. He said he appeared twice before a military judge via video conference, where his detention was renewed under the charge of being an “unlawful combatant.”
“What’s strange,” he noted, “is that the accusation would change depending on the judge — one day Hamas, the next day Islamic Jihad, or even ISIS.”
During his 10 months in Israeli custody — first at Sde Teiman near Gaza and later at Nafha Prison — Ahmed said he lost 29 kilograms (64 pounds) “because of hunger, poor-quality food, and constant torture and beatings.”
Ahmed added that Israeli intelligence officers threatened him upon release, warning him not to resume his journalistic work.
Ahmed 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.”