Israel detained 42 Palestinian journalists in 2025, including eight women, continuing a pattern of systemic targeting of Palestinian journalists, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) said.
"According to documentation and monitoring, the Syndicate's Freedoms Committee recorded 42 cases of arrest of Palestinian journalists, both men and women, during 2025," PJS said in its report.
"These arrests occurred across the (occupied) West Bank, occupied Jerusalem, and inside the occupied territories, as well as at military checkpoints and crossings, during field coverage, and during home raids."
The report said the decrease in arrest cases compared to 2023 and 2024 suggested a shift in Israel's focus from "quantitative targeting to qualitative targeting."
This shift, the report says, is characterised by focusing on the most influential journalists, repeated arrests of the same journalist, expanded use of administrative detention without charge or trial, and the use of physical and psychological violence as a deterrent tool.
PJS also said the committee documented cases where journalists were detained while they were on duty, covering military raids and settlers' attacks.
"This confirms that arrest has become an immediate tool to empty the field of witnesses and prevent the transmission of truth," the report added.
Gender-based violence
2025 also saw a sharp rise in Israel targeting Palestinian women journalists through arrests, interrogations, and expulsions, with some being re-arrested.
The report said that the committee stressed that these violations intersect with documented testimonies of foreign women journalists who faced Israeli torture.
"The Committee emphasised that these violations intersect with documented testimonies of foreign women journalists who were subjected to grave abuses inside prisons, placing these crimes within the category of serious violations that may amount to international crimes," the report said.
The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate called on the international community, human rights organisations, the United Nations, and special rapporteurs on freedom of expression to fulfil their legal and ethical responsibilities, urgently intervene, and hold Israeli leaders accountable for their crimes against Palestinian journalism.
"In conclusion, the Freedoms Committee reaffirmed that Palestinian journalism will continue to fulfil its professional and national role despite all policies of repression and arrest, and that targeting journalists will not succeed in silencing the truth or erasing crimes."
