On November 19, 2023, award-winning Palestinian poet and essayist Mosab Abu Toha was detained by Israeli forces as he attempted to flee with his family to southern Gaza amid intense bombardment; he had recently written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Atlantic about the destruction in his neighborhood. He was released on November 21, after being held for 54 hours.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) later stated that Abu Toha was detained due to “intelligence indicating interactions between several civilians and terror organizations inside the Gaza Strip.”
He posted on social media that he suffered severe pain in his nose and teeth after Israeli soldiers beat him while in custody. He also said that the Israeli forces confiscated his family’s passports, including the passport belonging to his American-born son, along with clothing, money, credit cards, and personal belongings, none of which was returned.
Abu Toha, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2025 for his commentary about Gaza in The New Yorker, 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.”