Palestinian press syndicate says journalist’s life at risk due to medical neglect in Israeli jail

Journalist Ali Samoudi’s life is at risk and could die imminently in Israeli jail, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate warned on Sunday in a sharply worded statement.

The press syndicate said that Israeli courts decided to extend his administrative detention for the third consecutive time, lengthening his time behind bars by an additional for months, despite there being no fair trial or charges.

The syndicate called the move a blatant violation of human and international rights, and noted that his health had declined rapidly while behind bars.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) stated that Samoudi had lost around 40kg of weight since being detained, and now suffers from multiple conditions, including scabies, diabetes, high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, an increased heart rate, chronic headaches and a urinary tract infection, among other medical concerns.

The rights group said his worsening conditions were due to deliberate medical neglect, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Samoudi has been held in Israel’s Megiddo detention facility, where the press syndicate has documented maltreatment of Palestinian detainees, including assault, humiliating treatment and harsh confinement.

The prison is notorious for its ill-treatment and torture of Palestinians, including minors.

Last year, it was reported that Palestinian minors were facing abuse and death in the Megiddo detention facility, with children as young as 16 being released looking emaciated. Many of them were detained for minor offences, such as throwing stones.

A paediatrician from Physicians for Human Rights last year stated that a 17-year-old detainee at the facility died in March, after describing him as "life-threateningly underweight".

Starvation, overcrowding, hygiene issues, and food deprivation have also consistently been reported at the facility.

The press syndicate, in its statement, urged the international community to take action and pressure the Israeli authorities into ending its policy of administrative detention and assaults against journalists.

It further called on journalist groups around the world to demand Samoudi’s release, and for Israeli authorities to be held accountable for detaining him.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said in its statement that Israel has long used administrative detention as a systematic way to silence Palestinians.

Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned Israel's treatment of Palestinian detainees, calling it degrading and unlawful.

Since Israel’s launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, tens of thousands of Palestinians, including children, have been detained from the Strip and the Occupied West Bank, with scores of them taken to unknown locations.

On Saturday, the Palestinian Journalists Forum said at least 55 journalists were killed by Israeli fire and missiles in 2025,  bringing the total number of journalists killed since the start of the war on Gaza on 7 October 2023 to 257.

In a detailed statement issued on Saturday, the forum said 2025 witnessed a "dangerous and unprecedented escalation" in Israeli violations against press freedom.

It said journalists and media institutions were directly targeted as part of a systematic policy aimed at "silencing the Palestinian narrative and imposing a media blackout", describing the actions as a "flagrant violation of international laws and humanitarian conventions".