Palestinian journalist Osama al-Sayed, a reporter for the Hamas-funded broadcaster Al-Aqsa TV and contributer to the Qatari-funded broadcaster Al Jazeera, was arrested on March 18, 2024 when Israeli forces launched an offensive on Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital complex, according to the Beirut-based regional press freedom group SKeyes and Al-Sayed’s wife, Hadeel Hamdan. Other journalists were also arrested in the raid.
On October 13, 2025, Al-Sayed was released as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal after spending nearly 500 days in detention. Al-Sayed told CPJ that he spent about 100 days in Sde Teiman detention center in Israel near the Gaza border, around 40 days in Ofer prison, near Ramallah, and Ketziot prison, in southern Israel’s Negev desert, near the border with Egypt, for the remainder of his detention. He said he was repeated called “Al Jazeera” by staff at the prison, an outlet he freelanced for, but is not a staff member of.
At Sde Teiman, he said he was held in a section detainees referred to as “hell,” where he was blindfolded and forced into stress positions outdoors for days, as birds defecated on him and worms crawled around him. He said he witnessed the alleged mutilation and execution of other prisoners there, and that he was repeatedly beaten, leaving him with broken ribs and teeth. He also reported being pepper-sprayed and subjected to electric shocks.
Al-Sayed also alleged experiencing sexual violence at the facility. He said him and other detainees, were taken to a blind spot where trained dogs attacked and sexually assaulted them, while soldiers laughed and recorded with their phones.
He said he lost over 40 kilograms while at Sde Teiman.
When emailed for comment, a spokesperson for the Israel Prison Service told CPJ it “is not aware of the claims described and to the best of our knowledge, no such incidents occurred under IPS responsibility.”