Israeli military extends detention of Palestinian journalist despite acknowledging lack of evidence
Ali Al-Samoudi outside the entrance of Jenin Camp
By Jeremy Diamond and Kareem Khadder, CNN
Jerusalem (CNN) — The Israeli military acknowledged Thursday that it does not have “sufficient evidence” to substantiate terrorism funding allegations it leveled against a prominent Palestinian journalist, even as an Israeli general ordered he be detained for another six months.
The Israeli military’s top general in the occupied West Bank ordered the journalist, Ali Samoudi, 58, to be held under administrative detention, which allows the military to hold individuals without trial for up to six months at a time. Administrative detention orders can be renewed indefinitely.
The commander issued the order on Wednesday following a military court hearing last week during which prosecutors sought to extend his detention.
“As sufficient evidence was not found against him, and in light of the accumulated intelligence material, security authorities requested to consider issuing an administrative detention order,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement to CNN. “Today, after reviewing the intelligence, the commanding officer of the Central Command decided to place him under administrative detention for a period of six months.”
Palestinians living in the West Bank are subject to Israeli military law and are typically tried in military courts, not Israeli civilian courts.
Samoudi, a prominent Palestinian journalist who has worked with CNN and other Western news outlets, was detained by Israeli forces on April 29 following an early morning raid on his son’s home in the West Bank city of Jenin.
At the time, the Israeli military accused him of transferring funds to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militant group in the West Bank and Gaza which Israel considers a terrorist organization. The Israeli military provided no evidence to back up its claim.
Israeli military prosecutors never leveled that accusation in court, Samoudi’s lawyer Jamil al-Khatib said, instead vaguely accusing Samoudi of harming the activity of Israeli forces in the West Bank.
The military’s administrative detention order cites Samoudi’s “presence posing a danger to the security of the region” as justification for his detention.
He is one of 20 journalists detained and held under administrative detention since the start of the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS).
“Samoudi’s arrest and administrative detention is part of the occupation’s escalating campaign of targeting journalists, particularly through the systematic use of administrative detention,” the PPS said in a statement.
Samoudi is now being held in Megiddo prison in central Israel, according to his lawyer, where he is still waiting to receive his eyeglasses and medications for several chronic conditions, including high blood pressure and diabetes.
One of the most well-known Palestinian journalists in the West Bank, Samoudi has worked with international news organizations for decades as a local producer and fixer.
He was also a witness to the high-profile killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, by Israeli forces in 2022, during which he was also shot.
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