Israeli soldiers arrested journalist Mohamad Al-Atrash, a host for the program “People’s Discussions” at the local Palestinian Radio Alam, on November 8, 2023, after raiding his house in Hebron, West Bank, according to the radio broadcaster, the London-based news site The New Arab, and the Palestinian press freedom group MADA. Al-Atrash was released on June 6, 2024.
On January 23, 2025, Al-Atrash was arrested again in a dawn raid on his home, this time by the Palestinian Authority, after he returned from reporting on the Israeli military operation in Jenin for the Qatari-based broadcaster Al Jazeera.
The journalist’s lawyer, Higazi Ebedo, told CPJ on the day of his arrest that a court in the Hebron Governorate had extended his detention for 15 days to complete the investigation on suspicion of working with a banned media agency. On January 1, 2025, the Palestinian Authority had suspended Al Jazeera’s West Bank operations on the grounds of “inciting material” after criticizing the outlet’s coverage of a standoff between Palestinian security forces and militant fighters in Jenin.
Al-Atrash told CPJ that he was released on January 25, 2025. The journalist told CPJ on January 27 that he was forced to sign a pledge not to work with Al Jazeera before he was freed.
When the war began in October 2023, Al-Atrash reported on a daily basis on the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, including airstrikes, shortages of fuel at hospitals, and the rising death toll, as well as the war’s impact on the West Bank. He also shares commentary on his personal Facebook account, which has nearly 14,000 followers.
Al-Atrash told CPJ that after he was arrested in November 2023, he was first held in Etzion Prison for three days before being transferred to Ofer Prison, where he spent the remainder of his detention. While there, he was subjected to what he described as systematic physical and psychological torture, including injuries to his shoulder and hands, which he continues to deal with the effects of.
From the moment of his arrest, he said, soldiers beat him severely and threatened to kill him. He said they placed him beneath a military vehicle and started it as if they intended to run him over, after which about 10 soldiers beat him outside Etzion Prison and targeted his genitals with an electronic search baton in what he described as sexualized abuse.
Al-Atrash also told CPJ that he was subjected to systematic abuse in what detainees referred to as a “Shin Bet party” or “Ben Gvir party,” during which prisoners were transferred to a camp affiliated with Shin Bet, Israel’s Security Agency, and assaulted in a coordinated manner. He said that on November 22, 2023, he was beaten continuously for 18 hours, attacked by police dogs, and had his shoulder dislocated.
He said prisoners in Ofer were also violently assaulted whenever Arabic media aired reports on Gaza or the West Bank. He was subjected to sexual harassment and abuse during detention, he said, including attempted anal assault with batons while clothed, beatings focused on his genitals, and repeated strip searches.
He told CPJ that he lost 25 kilograms (55 pounds) during his detention because of harsh detention conditions, malnutrition, and the ongoing deterioration of his physical and psychological health.
A court had sentenced Al-Atrash to seven months in prison, he said, in addition to an eight-month suspended sentence over four years that could be activated if he published material criticizing the occupation or the war.
Al Atrash 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.”