>“It was a real hell. Prison today is hell in every sense of the word,” Samoudi said in an interview at his home in Jenin. “Everything they practiced with us was punishment and revenge.”
>He is one of 105 Palestinian journalists who have been detained and imprisoned since October 7, 2023, the majority also held without charge, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The startling scale of detentions made Israel the third-worst jailer of journalists for 2025, behind only China and Myanmar, according to CPJ. Thirty-three Palestinian journalists are still imprisoned in Israel, the organization said.
>Samoudi is a well-known journalist who has worked as a local producer and fixer for CNN, among other international outlets. He was at Shireen Abu Akleh’s side when the Palestinian American journalist was fatally shot by Israeli troops in 2022. He was also shot in the shoulder in the same incident.
>When Samoudi was detained in April 2025, the Israeli military claimed he was suspected of financing the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, a designated terrorist organization in Israel and the United States.
>Labeling Samoudi a “terrorist,” the Israeli military said Samoudi was “identified with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization and suspected in the transfer of funds to the terrorist organization.” “Bullshit,” Samoudi said when asked about the claim.
Not only was Samoudi never charged with any crime, but he says interrogators never raised the claim of financing Islamic Jihad or any other terrorist organization. Instead, he said interrogators questioned him about his reporting and alleged he was endangering Israeli security. “My arrest is part of the Israeli war against the Palestinian press and media. To silence my voice and block my camera and break my pen, and thus prevent me from practicing my right that all laws and international norms guarantee: the freedom of the press,” Samoudi said.
>Asked whether he is afraid that speaking out could land him back in prison, Samoudi responds with knowing laughter.
“Yes. Yes. Yes. Correct. Certainly, I fear that they will arrest me,” Samoudi said. “There are many journalists who were released and re-arrested.”But he says he won’t be deterred from returning to his work as a journalist. “My journalistic work is part of my life,” Samoudi said. “It is my mission in this life.”
>Despite his four decades of reporting experience, Samoudi said he was shocked by the conditions in Israeli prisons, where he says he endured physical and psychological abuse that sometimes left him wondering whether he would make it out of prison alive. Israel’s Prison Service did not respond to CNN’s request for comment about Samoudi’s detention.
>Samoudi lost 60 kilos (132 pounds), or about half his body weight, during his year in prison. “They basically gave us food only to keep us alive,” Samoudi said. “Breakfast consists of one spoon of labneh, a quarter spoon of jam. For lunch: four spoons of rice in addition to two slices of cucumber or two slices of tomato or two slices of sweet pepper.”
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>“It was a real hell. Prison today is hell in every sense of the word,” Samoudi said in an interview at his home in Jenin. “Everything they practiced with us was punishment and revenge.”
>He is one of 105 Palestinian journalists who have been detained and imprisoned since October 7, 2023, the majority also held without charge, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The startling scale of detentions made Israel the third-worst jailer of journalists for 2025, behind only China and Myanmar, according to CPJ. Thirty-three Palestinian journalists are still imprisoned in Israel, the organization said.
>Samoudi is a well-known journalist who has worked as a local producer and fixer for CNN, among other international outlets. He was at Shireen Abu Akleh’s side when the Palestinian American journalist was fatally shot by Israeli troops in 2022. He was also shot in the shoulder in the same incident.
>When Samoudi was detained in April 2025, the Israeli military claimed he was suspected of financing the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, a designated terrorist organization in Israel and the United States.
>Labeling Samoudi a “terrorist,” the Israeli military said Samoudi was “identified with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization and suspected in the transfer of funds to the terrorist organization.” “Bullshit,” Samoudi said when asked about the claim.
Not only was Samoudi never charged with any crime, but he says interrogators never raised the claim of financing Islamic Jihad or any other terrorist organization. Instead, he said interrogators questioned him about his reporting and alleged he was endangering Israeli security. “My arrest is part of the Israeli war against the Palestinian press and media. To silence my voice and block my camera and break my pen, and thus prevent me from practicing my right that all laws and international norms guarantee: the freedom of the press,” Samoudi said.
>Asked whether he is afraid that speaking out could land him back in prison, Samoudi responds with knowing laughter.
“Yes. Yes. Yes. Correct. Certainly, I fear that they will arrest me,” Samoudi said. “There are many journalists who were released and re-arrested.”But he says he won’t be deterred from returning to his work as a journalist. “My journalistic work is part of my life,” Samoudi said. “It is my mission in this life.”
>Despite his four decades of reporting experience, Samoudi said he was shocked by the conditions in Israeli prisons, where he says he endured physical and psychological abuse that sometimes left him wondering whether he would make it out of prison alive. Israel’s Prison Service did not respond to CNN’s request for comment about Samoudi’s detention.
>Samoudi lost 60 kilos (132 pounds), or about half his body weight, during his year in prison. “They basically gave us food only to keep us alive,” Samoudi said. “Breakfast consists of one spoon of labneh, a quarter spoon of jam. For lunch: four spoons of rice in addition to two slices of cucumber or two slices of tomato or two slices of sweet pepper.”