Emaciated Palestinian journalist released without charge after yearlong administrative detention

Palestinian journalist Ali Samoudi has been released after a full year in Israeli administrative detention.

A well-known figure among Palestinians in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, who has ties with Israeli journalists, never ended up being charged with a crime, despite being held for so long, Palestinian media reports.

Media reports said Samoudi was suspected of transferring funds to Islamic Jihad, though, given that he was never charged, those allegations appear to have been thin.

In footage following his release, Samoudi says he lost half of his body weight — 60 kilograms — while in prison.

Palestinian journalist Ali al-Samoudi, 59-year-old, abducted on April 29, 2025, by the Israeli army from Jenin in the West Bank and held in administrative detention without charge or trial for one year, was released today. pic.twitter.com/kSi56RtmNR

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) April 30, 2026

A recent report from Israel’s own Public Defender’s Office determined that Palestinian security detainees held in Israeli prisons have suffered from severe and systematic violence from prison guards, deprivation of food, and medical neglect, while also having been subjected to unsanitary conditions that caused and exacerbated outbreaks of disease in the prisons.

Thousands of Palestinians are currently in administrative detention, a legal mechanism that allows Israeli authorities to indefinitely keep a suspect in custody without charge, based on covert intelligence information.

The practice is so controversial that Defense Minister Israel Katz barred its use against Jewish suspects last year. It is now only employed against Palestinians and a small number of Arab Israelis, leading to charges of discrimination by Israeli authorities.

The Israel Prisons Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why Samoudi was held for so long, given that he was never charged.