Israeli forces in Gaza on Tuesday released Diaa al-Kahlout, the bureau chief of The New Arab’s Arabic language sister site in Gaza, after several weeks of detention without charge or trial.
Al-Kahlout was released by Israel through the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) commercial crossing, east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Al-Kahlout spent a short time in a tent belonging to the UN on the Palestinian side immediately following his release, before being transferred to hospital to check on his health, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Al-Kahlout was tortured and mistreated in Israeli detention.
The journalist’s ordeal began on December 7 of last year, when he, along with dozens of other Palestinian men, were rounded up at gunpoint in the northern Gazan city of Beit Lahia in a mass detention by Israeli forces.
Al-Kahlout and his fellow detainees were then stripped down to their underwear, then beaten, blindfolded and put on their knees, with their hands tied behind their backs.
Israel refused to release any details about Al-Kahlout's detention or his health after he was captured but there were reports that he was being held in Beersheba prison in southern Israel, while being mistreated, tortured and forced to eat expired food from garbage bags.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said on 14 December that it had received reports from al-Kahlout's family and a number of released detainees about a “serious and continued deterioration” in the journalist's health.
Several of his family members were killed or injured in Israeli attacks after he was detained.
Al-Kahlout’s family reported that he had been suffering from a chest infection and high blood pressure prior to his arrest.
Despite repeated calls by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed and human rights groups on Israel to release or provide meaningful updates on al-Kahlout, Israeli authorities maintained an information blackout on the journalist.
Since the beginning of its war on Gaza, Israel has been accused of targeting journalists and media workers, with 110 killed in Gaza and dozens more arrested.