On March 18, 2024, Israel Defense Forces launched an offensive on Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital complex, arresting scores of Palestinians, including Khalil Odeh, a photographer for the local Gaza-based news agency Sabq 24, and other journalists. Odeh and his family had sought refuge near the hospital after their home in Gaza City’s Al-Nasr neighborhood was bombed, Odeh’s grandmother Malak Abu Odeh and Sabq 24’s editor-in-chief Mohammad Jarbou told CPJ. Israeli authorities released Odeh on October 13, 2025, after about 19 months in detention, as part of a ceasefire deal.
“While he was at Al-Shifa and prior to his arrest, he was filming videos and taking pictures for Sabq 24 from inside the hospital and other locations in Gaza,” Jarbou said.
Odeh told CPJ that during arrest, he was threatened with execution, then moved to the notorious Sde Teiman detention camp. There, he was tortured, including being placed in a “disco room,” where he was subjected to loud continuous Hebrew music for four days.
He also told CPJ that investigators questioning him used electric torture and in one instance threatened to place his genitals in Odeh’s mouth. Odeh added that he was sexually assaulted in prison and repeatedly beaten.
Odeh lost 34 kilograms (75 pounds) during arrest, due to what he described as starvation policies in Israeli prisons. He was held in Sde Teiman, Ofer Prison, and Ktzi'ot Prison.
He said an Israeli intelligence officer warned him against talking about what he went through, saying, “I have my eyes on you.”
Odeh 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.”