On March 3, 2024, Israeli security forces arrested Rami Abu Zubaida, editor-in-chief of the Palestinian news website 180 Investigations and a military analyst for numerous outlets, along with his brother Ibrahim at a checkpoint in the Hamad Towers area in southern Gaza’s city of Khan Yunis, according to Abu Zubaida’s employer and the Beirut-based regional press freedom group SKeyes. Israeli authorities released Abu Zubaida in central Gaza on February 27, 2025, after nearly a year in detention.
Abu Zubaida has written for the news website ArabicPost, the Qatari-funded broadcaster Al-Jazeera, and pan-Arab newspaper Al-Araby al-Jadeed, and provided commentary on Israeli-Palestinian news for the Istanbul-based broadcaster Al-Rafidain TV.
Abu Zubaida told CPJ that Israeli forces ordered residents to leave the area through what they described as a safe corridor, which he said was “not safe at all,” and that soldiers arrested him while he was waiting in line at the checkpoint.
He said that after his arrest, Israeli forces forced him to strip down to his underwear, took all of his belongings, and after several hours gave him white clothing “resembling a shroud.”
Abu Zubaida said Israeli forces transferred him and other detainees to a field interrogation center, then loaded them blindfolded and handcuffed onto a truck and took them to the Gaza envelope area. He said they were then transferred to the Sufa military camp near the border, and from there to Sde Teiman detention camp. That’s where, on the second day of his detention, they were violently assaulted with police dogs and severely beaten all over their bodies, he said.
He said that during nearly a year in detention, Israeli authorities transferred him to Ofer Prison, then Nafha Prison, and later Negev Prison. Interrogators questioned him in prison about his journalistic writing and media interviews, and that one interrogator told him he wanted to kill him, he told CPJ. During what he described as a sham court proceeding conducted by video conference, Israeli authorities accused him of incitement against Israel and being an unlawful combatant, he said.
Abu Zubaida said he lost 35 kilograms (77 pounds) because of the very small food portions provided in prison.
He added that Shin Bet officers threatened to kill him a week before his release if he dealt with Palestinian factions.
Alaa Skafi, director of Palestinian prisoner support group Addameer, told CPJ that journalists from Gaza are generally held under the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law. According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, the law allows Israel to hold detainees for long periods of time without charge and with limited access to legal counsel. Skafi and B’Tselem both described overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and abuse at Israeli prison facilities housing Palestinian journalists.
Abu Zubaida 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 insideIsraeli 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.”