NGO: Israel has arrested 66 journalists in West Bank since the start of the conflict
Palestinian Prisoners Society says 45 writers remain detained, rise in arrest of female media workers
Arrests, violation of rights form part of strategy to control narrative, body says
Updated 04 April 2024
Arab News
LONDON: The Palestinian Prisoners Society reported on Wednesday that Israeli authorities had detained 66 journalists since the start of the country’s conflict with Hamas.
The West Bank-based body, which supports Palestinians in Israeli prisons, said that 45 journalists were still being held in jails.
The PPS added in a press release that the number of detained female journalists had risen to four, marking a significant increase since record-keeping began.
The most recent detainee is 32-year-old journalist Asma Noah Harish, whose home in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah was raided shortly after dawn on Wednesday. Her father and brother Ahmed have been detained for some time.
The PPS explained that this “escalation comes within the framework of the widespread arrest campaigns” carried out by the Israeli army after Oct. 7, which includes the arrest of women.
The organization said: “During the month of March until today, the occupation (Israeli forces) has arrested three female journalists.”
Included in this list are: “Bushra Al-Taweel, who was transferred to administrative detention, and Rula Hassanein, a married mother of a 9-month-old daughter, in addition to Harish.”
According to Middle East Eye, which cited her family, an Israeli court has refused to release Hassanein, whose prematurely born baby is solely reliant on her mother’s breast milk for nutrition.
The PPS reported that most journalists were charged with offenses related to incitement on social media, or as media workers. It noted that many of them had been arrested multiple times.
The society confirmed that 23 journalists were placed under administrative detention under the pretext of “secret files,” including journalists Ikhlas Sawalha and Al-Taweel.
It added that most detained journalists had been subjected to severe beatings and torture, especially those detained since Oct. 7, highlighting that the tally of media workers killed since the conflict began had risen to 138.
Abdullah Al-Zaghari, the head of the PPS, said in an interview in February that there had been an escalation in the violation of human rights and international standards in the treatment of prisoners over recent months.
The organization said: “The occupation state arrests journalists and violates their rights in its ongoing efforts to silence them and stop the Palestinian narrative being shared.”
The PPS has renewed its call for international human rights bodies to “fulfill their responsibilities in light of the genocide against our people in Gaza and the targeting of all sectors of Palestinian society through wide and systematic arrest campaigns.”
According to the PPS, the total number of Palestinian prisoners held at Israeli prisons at the end of March was at least 9,400, including 3,661 administrative detainees.
The children in Israel’s prisons
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A look back at how Arab News marked its 50th anniversary
In a year crowded with news, the paper still managed to innovate and leverage AI to become available in 50 languages
Golden Jubilee Gala, held at the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh, now available to watch on YouTube
Updated 31 December 2025
Arab News
RIYADH: In 2025, the global news agenda was crowded with headlines concerning wars, elections and rapid technological change.
Inside the newsroom of Arab News, the year carried additional weight: Saudi Arabia’s first English-language daily marked its 50th anniversary.
And with an industry going through turmoil worldwide, the challenge inside the newsroom was how to turn a midlife crisis into a midlife opportunity.
For the newspaper’s team members, the milestone was less about nostalgia than about ensuring the publication could thrive in a rapidly changing and evolving media landscape.
“We did not want just to celebrate our past,” said Faisal J. Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News. “But more importantly, we were constantly thinking of how we can keep Arab News relevant for the next five decades.”
Faisal J. Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News. (Supplied)
The solution, he added, came down to two words: “Artificial intelligence.”
For the Arab News newsroom, AI was not a replacement for journalism but as a tool to extend it.
“It was like having three eyes at once: one on the past, one on the present, and one on the future,” said Noor Nugali, the newspaper’s deputy editor-in-chief.
Noor Nugali, deputy editor-in-chief of Arab News. (Supplied)
One of the first initiatives was the 50th anniversary commemorative edition, designed as a compact historical record of the region told through Arab News’ own reporting.
“It was meant to be like a mini history book, telling the history of the region using Arab News’ archive with a story from each year,” said Siraj Wahab, acting executive editor of the newspaper.
The issue, he added, traced events ranging from the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war in 1975 to the swearing-in of Donald Trump, while also paying homage to former editors-in-chief who shaped the newspaper’s direction over five decades.
The anniversary edition, however, was only one part of a broader strategy to signal Arab News’ focus on the future.
To that end, the paper partnered with Google to launch the region’s first AI-produced podcast using NotebookLM, an experimental tool that synthesizes reporting and archival material into audio storytelling.
The project marked a regional first in newsroom-led AI audio production.
The podcast was unveiled during a special 50th anniversary ceremony in mid-November, held on the sidelines of the Arab Media Forum, hosted by the Dubai Future Foundation. The event in the UAE’s commercial hub drew regional media leaders and officials.
Remarks at the event highlighted the project as an example of innovation in legacy media, positioning Arab News as a case study in digital reinvention rather than preservation alone.
“This is a great initiative, and I’m happy that it came from Arab News as a leading media platform, and I hope to see more such initiatives in the Arab world especially,” said Mona Al-Marri, director-general of the Government of Dubai Media Office, on the sidelines of the event.
“AI is the future, and no one should deny this. It will take over so many sectors. We have to be ready for it and be part of it and be ahead of anyone else in this interesting field.”
Behind the scenes, another long-form project was taking shape: a documentary chronicling Arab News’ origins and its transformation into a global, digital-first newsroom.
“While all this was happening, we were also working in-house on a documentary telling the origin story of Arab News and how it transformed under the current editor into a more global, more digital operation,” said Nugali.
The result was “Rewriting Arab News,” a documentary examining the paper’s digital transformation and its navigation of Saudi Arabia’s reforms between 2016 and 2018. The film charted editorial shifts, newsroom restructuring and the challenges of reporting during a period of rapid national change.
The documentary was screened at the Frontline Club in London, the European Union Embassy, Westminster University, and the World Media Congress in Bahrain. It later became available on the streaming platform Shahid and onboard Saudi Arabian Airlines.
The grand slam of the anniversary year was the Golden Jubilee of Arab News gala, held in late September in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter. (AN photo)
It was also nominated for an Association for International Broadcasting award.
In early July, a special screening of the documentary took place at the EU Embassy in Riyadh. During the event, EU Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Christophe Farnaud described the film as an “embodiment” of the “incredible changes” that the Kingdom is undergoing.
“I particularly appreciate … the historical dimension, when (Arab News) was created in 1975 — that was also a project corresponding to the new role of the Kingdom,” Farnaud said. “Now the Kingdom has entered a new phase, a spectacular phase of transformation.”
Part of the documentary is narrated by Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the former Saudi ambassador to the US, who in the film delves into the paper’s origins.
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the former Saudi ambassador to the US. (AN photo)
The grand slam of the anniversary year was the Golden Jubilee of Arab News gala, held in late September in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter.
Hosted by the Dean of Diplomatic Corps in Saudi Arabia and Ambassador of Djibouti to Riyadh Dya-Eddine Said Bamakhrama, the evening featured a keynote address by Prince Turki, who spoke about Arab News’ founding under his father, the late King Faisal, and its original mission to present the Kingdom to the English-speaking world.
The Dean of Diplomatic Corps in Saudi Arabia and Ambassador of Djibouti to Riyadh Dya-Eddine Said Bamakhrama (far left). (AN photo)
Arab News was established in Jeddah in 1975 by brothers Hisham and Mohammed Ali Hafiz under the slogan to give Arabs a voice in English while documenting the major transformations taking place across the Middle East.
The two founders were honored with a special trophy presented by Prince Turki, Assistant Media Minister Abdullah Maghlouth, Editor-in-Chief Abbas, and family member and renowned columnist Talat Hafiz on behalf of the founders.
During the gala, Abbas announced Arab News’ most ambitious expansion yet: the launch of the publication in 50 languages, unveiled later at the World Media Congress in Madrid in cooperation with Camb.AI.
The grand slam of the anniversary year was the Golden Jubilee of Arab News gala, held in late September in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter. (AN photo)
The Madrid launch in October underscored Arab News’ aim to reposition itself not simply as a regional paper, but as a global platform for Saudi and Middle Eastern perspectives.
The event was attended by Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz Al-Mogrin, the Saudi ambassador to Spain; Arab and Spanish diplomats; and senior editors and executives.
As the anniversary year concluded, Arab News released the full video of the Golden Jubilee Gala to the public for the first time, making the event accessible beyond the room in which it was held.
For a newspaper founded in an era of typewriters and wire copy, the message of its 50th year was clear: longevity alone is not enough. Relevance, the newsroom concluded, now depends on how well journalism adapts without losing sight of its past.
