Israel Detains 42 Palestinian Journalists in 2025 as Syndicate Reports Escalating Targeting

January 02, 2026 – Palestine –

Israeli authorities detained 42 Palestinian journalists and media workers in 2025, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) reported, underscoring persistent risks faced by press professionals covering occupation-related events in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the occupied territories. According to the PJS Freedoms Committee, arrests occurred in diverse contexts throughout the year — including during coverage of military raids, settler attacks, checkpoints, crossings, and even home invasions — indicating that detentions have become an entrenched tactic to limit independent reporting.

The syndicate’s 2025 tally shows a decrease in the number of detained journalists compared with 2023 and 2024, but local press freedom advocates emphasise that this does not reflect improved conditions. Rather, they contend that Israeli security policy has shifted from broad, frequent arrests to qualitative targeting of high-profile reporters, repeated re-arrests of specific individuals, expanded use of administrative detention without charge or trial, and the application of physical or psychological pressure as deterrence. Such practices raise significant concerns about compliance with international law and the rights of journalists to report without fear of arbitrary incarceration.

The PJS also criticised the detention of female journalists, noting an increase in arrests, interrogations, and expulsions that points to gendered dimensions of repression. The organisation emphasised that administrative detention strips journalists of fundamental rights and can leave them confined indefinitely with no formal charge, concealing legal justifications under the guise of security. The committee described the detention patterns as an effort to empty Gaza’s and the West Bank’s media field of independent witnesses and to obstruct coverage of humanitarian and security developments.

PJS leadership appealed to the international community, human rights bodies, the United Nations, and freedom-of-expression rapporteurs to intervene urgently and hold Israeli authorities accountable for what they describe as systematic actions against Palestinian journalism. They argued that ensuring the safety and freedom of journalists is essential not only for media independence but also for broader accountability and transparency in reporting on occupation, conflict, and civilian life under prolonged instability.

The report’s findings are part of a wider documented pattern of targeting media workers in Palestine, set against the backdrop of one of the most perilous environments for journalists globally, where killings and detentions have marked years of conflict.

Reference – 

https://www.trtworld.com/article/933d452e3890

https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/165817

https://www.sadanews.ps/en/news/262762.html

Israel arrested 42 Palestinian journalists in 2025