Palestinian Journalist Ali al-Samoudi’s Year-Long Administrative Detention Exposes Harsh Prison Conditions

In April 2025 Israeli authorities placed veteran Palestinian journalist Ali al-Samoudi under an administrative detention order, holding him without charge for twelve months. He was released on 30 April 2026, having lost roughly 60 kg (132 lb) and describing the experience as “real hell.”

CNN

Israel’s administrative detention permits indefinite imprisonment on secret intelligence, applied to about 4,000 Palestinians while Jewish suspects are largely exempt. Since the Oct 7 2023 war, 105 Palestinian journalists have been detained, 33 still in custody, making Israel the world’s third-largest jailer of reporters after China and Myanmar.

Times of Israel

Samoudi said daily meals consisted of a spoon of labneh, a quarter spoon of jam, four spoons of rice, limited vegetables and occasional meat—“only to keep us alive.” He also described an officer stepping on his head for four minutes and the death of 22-year-old detainee Loay Faisal Turkman after guards denied medical care.

CNN

The Israel Prison Service declined comment on Samoudi’s case and Turkman’s death. The Israeli military said Samoudi was “identified with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization and suspected in the transfer of funds to the terrorist organization.” In September 2025 the Supreme Court ordered better nutrition for detainees, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir defended the food policy as meeting only the most basic standards.

CNN

The public defender’s office reported systematic violence, food deprivation and medical neglect. The Committee to Protect Journalists warned that the disproportionate detention of Palestinian journalists breaches press-freedom norms. Human-rights groups say the conditions reflect a broader pattern of punitive treatment of Palestinian detainees.

Times of Israel

Israeli authorities maintain Samoudi financed Islamic Jihad, a charge he called “bullshit” and says was never raised in interrogation. No official explanation has been given for Turkman’s death, and the Israel Prison Service has not responded. Journalist-detention counts differ between 105 total since Oct 7 and 33 currently held.

Times of Israel

The case shows how administrative detention can silence media, raising concerns under international humanitarian law and press-freedom standards. Health deterioration, opaque legal processes and alleged discrimination highlight broader human-rights challenges in the occupied territories.

Times of Israel

• “It was a real hell. Prison today is hell in every sense of the word,” — Ali al-Samoudi, Palestinian journalist

CNN

• “They basically gave us food only to keep us alive,” — Ali al-Samoudi

CNN

• “My arrest is part of the Israeli war against the Palestinian press and media to silence my voice, to block my camera, to break my pen, and to thus prevent me from practicing my right guaranteed by all laws and international norms — the freedom of the press,” — Ali al-Samoudi

Times of Israel

• “bare minimum of bare minimum” — Itamar Ben Gvir, National Security Minister

CNN

Legal teams will press the Supreme Court on nutrition reforms, while CPJ will keep tracking journalist detentions. International bodies have called for independent inquiries into prison conditions and the death of Loay Faisal Turkman.

Times of Israel