The Israel Defense Forces arrested Palestinian journalist Mustafa al-Khawaja, a reporter for the West Bank-based J-Media Network and the Hamas-affiliated channel Al-Aqsa TV, on October 16, 2023. He was later placed in administrative detention. Israeli authorities released al-Khawaja on August 14, 2024, after holding him for 10 months.
Around 20 soldiers broke through the gate of al-Khawaja’s home in Ni’lin, west of Ramallah, at around 3 a.m., according to Palestinian press freedom group MADA, citing an interview with al-Khawaja’s brother, Hamada al-Khawaja, and news reports. Soldiers asked for al-Khawaja’s identification, handcuffed him, seized his mobile phone, and drove him to an unknown destination.
According to a Facebook post by the official Commission of Detainees Affairs, al-Khawaja was transferred to Ofer Prison, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on October 17, 2023. He was placed under administrative detention for six months on October 26, news reports said. Under administrative detention procedures, authorities may hold detainees for six months without charge and renew the detention repeatedly, according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. Judges may accept undisclosed evidence on security grounds.
On the day of his arrest, the IDF ordered the J-Media agency to shut down, according to MADA and the London-based news websiteThe New Arab. In a statement, the IDF described the media outlet as “an illegal organization” and said its closure was necessary for “the sake of the security of the State of Israel and for the safety of the public and public order,” those sources said, adding that J-Media complied and ceased operations.
Al-Khawaja was detained as part of the mass arrests Israeli forces conducted in the occupied West Bank in the wake of October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, prompting Israel to declare war on the militant group.
Al-Khawaja told CPJ that he was abused from the first night of his detention, including being beaten on his face while handcuffed behind his back and blindfolded. He said he was later beaten in Megiddo and Shatta prisons with batons, clubs, and hands. A beating on March 14, 2024, in Shatta prison left him with fractured ribs, meniscus tears, and spinal injuries later diagnosed as herniated discs.
He also said that he and six other detainees were subjected to sexual assault in Shatta prison on December 17, 2023, when they were forced to strip and piled on top of one another. He lost about 40 kilograms (88 pounds) due to prison starvation policies, he said.
Al-Khawaja said he appeared in multiple video court sessions to renew and uphold his administrative detention. After his release, he said, Israeli officers threatened him not to engage in any media work or other activity against the occupation.
Al-Khawaja 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.”
Al-Khawaja was previously arrested in October 2014 and held for about six weeks over his work for Al-Aqsa TV, according to the Lebanese press freedom group SKeyes and news reports.
In 2019, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Al-Aqsa TV a terrorist organization after banning it in the West Bank in 2017. In 2017, al-Khawaja and another Al-Aqsa TV correspondent were ordered by an Israeli court to stop their work with the outlet, according to news website Al-Watan.