Palestinian journalist Sami al-Sai alleges torture, sexual violence in Israeli prison

Amman, December 16, 2025 — The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by the harrowing public testimony given on Sunday by Palestinian freelance journalist Sami al-Sai, who described experiencing alleged torture and sexual violence while in Israeli prison.

The journalist, who has reported for the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera Mubasher and the local broadcaster Al-Fajer TV, was detained by Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank on February 23, 2024. He said he was held under administrative detention in northern Israel’s Megiddo Prison and Ramon Prison in the south on the basis of a secret file, accused of posing a “threat to national security” without being informed of the charges against him or granted access to his file.

During a public event organized by the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) and Filastiniyat, Al-Sai, who was released on June 10, 2025, described severe abuse while held in Megiddo Prison. He said Israeli prison guards beat him and subjected him to blindfolding, shackling, humiliation, sexual assault and rape with a baton.

In one incident, he said, “a group of at least four soldiers led me to a foul-smelling area while continuously beating and insulting me.” He added that he was ordered to “sit in a prostating position, which at first I thought was part of their standard humiliation routine, until I felt them inserting a hard object into my rectum”.

“The allegations of torture and sexual abuse made by Palestinian journalist Sami al-Sai are deeply alarming and tragically consistent with testimonies CPJ has received from other journalists detained in Israeli prisons,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “CPJ unequivocally condemns these practices, which point to a troubling and systemic pattern of abuse. These grave allegations demand urgent, independent investigations, full transparency, and accountability for all those responsible.”

The treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons has drawn renewed attention in recent months following a government scandal over a leaked video allegedly showing Israeli soldiers sexually assaulting a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention centre, raising serious concerns about the scale of abuses and the lack of accountability.

CPJ could not independently verify Al-Sai’s description of torture, but it is in line with human rights groups’ descriptions of the treatment of some Palestinians in Israeli custody. 

As of December 16, 2025, some 30 Palestinian journalists were imprisoned in Israel.

CPJ emailed the Israeli Prison Service for comment but did not receive a response.