Israeli occupation authorities are holding 39 Palestinian journalists, including five women, in harsh conditions, while 22 are imprisoned without charge or trial under Administrative Detention order, according to figures issued by the Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies on September 26, 2026.
In a statement issued for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian Journalist, the center said Israeli forces have abducted more than 250 Palestinian journalists since October 7, 2023.
It said Palestinian journalists have faced repeated abductions, abuse, and restrictions aimed at obstructing their work and preventing them from documenting Israeli violations.
The center said the fate of three journalists from the Gaza Strip—Nidal al-Wahidi, Haitham Abdul-Wahed, and Ahmad Issam al-Agha—remains unknown.
Amnesty International has separately documented the cases of al-Wahidi and Abdul-Wahed, who were detained by Israeli forces while reporting near the Beit Hanoun crossing on October 7, 2023.
Amnesty said Israeli authorities had not disclosed their whereabouts or the legal basis for their detention, circumstances it described as enforced disappearance.
The center also reported that imprisoned journalists have been subjected to torture, ill-treatment, isolation, and harsh detention conditions.
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian Journalist is observed annually on September 26 to support Palestinian journalists and affirm their right to report events without persecution or obstruction.
In a review published on September 24, 2026, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Israeli forces were responsible for the deaths of 191 Palestinian journalists and media workers since October 7, 2023, including 189 killed in Gaza and two who died in Israeli custody.
CPJ described the war as the deadliest conflict for journalists it has ever documented and said its revised figures followed a case-by-case review. Its count differs from the Gaza toll verified by the UN Human Rights Office because the organizations use different definitions, evidence requirements, and verification methods when determining who qualifies as a journalist or media worker.
On May 4, 2026, the UN Human Rights Office quoted UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk as saying that his office had verified the killing of nearly 300 journalists since October 2023.
Under international humanitarian law, journalists carrying out professional duties in armed conflict are civilians unless they directly participate in hostilities. CPJ said Israel bars journalists and researchers from entering the Gaza Strip independently, limiting outside scrutiny and independent verification of attacks on media workers and other events on the ground.
The restrictions have left Palestinian journalists to bear most of the burden of reporting the war, while the UN Human Rights Office has documented killings, injuries, imprisonment, displacement, and obstruction of their work.
