A comprehensive investigation by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has uncovered systematic human rights violations against Palestinian journalists detained by Israeli authorities. The report, titled ‘We Returned From Hell’ and published Thursday, documents extensive evidence of torture, sexual violence, and deliberate starvation based on interviews with 59 journalists imprisoned since October 2023.
The findings reveal that 58 of the 59 detained journalists experienced severe physical and psychological abuse. Testimonials describe brutal interrogation techniques including electroshock torture, prolonged stress positions, and beatings with batons. Particularly disturbing accounts detail sexual violence, with multiple journalists reporting rape and penetration with objects by their captors—acts described as intentionally designed to humiliate and psychologically destroy victims.
Journalist Sami al-Sai provided harrowing testimony of being stripped and assaulted with batons and other objects in a cell at Megiddo prison, leaving him in severe psychological distress. The report notes that descriptions of sexual violence appeared repeatedly across multiple testimonies.
Additional abuses documented include threats against family members, sleep deprivation through constant blaring music, and denial of medical care for serious injuries including broken bones and eye trauma. Approximately 80% of those interviewed were held under administrative detention without formal charges, while one-quarter never received legal representation.
Nutritional deprivation emerged as another systematic abuse, with detainees reporting extreme hunger and surviving on moldy bread and rotten food. Photographic evidence reviewed by CPJ shows emaciated detainees with protruding ribs and hollowed cheeks, having lost an average of 23.5 kilograms (52 pounds) each during detention.
CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg stated that the scale and consistency of these testimonies indicate ‘something far beyond isolated misconduct,’ while regional director Sara Qudah characterized the abuses as ‘a deliberate strategy to intimidate and silence journalists.’
The report emerges against the backdrop of what CPJ describes as the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern history, with nearly 300 Palestinian journalists and media workers killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 2023.