Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

What You Need to Know

Following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, Israeli authorities conducted a wide-ranging crackdown on free expression, placing Israel in the Freedom to Write Index’s top 10 for the first time, at fifth place with 17 Palestinian writers behind bars.

Israel is holding 8 of the 17 writers counted in the Index in administrative detention, which requires neither evidence nor formal charges and allows Israel to hold them indefinitely.

The war in Gaza has claimed the lives of more journalists than any other conflict over the last nearly 25 years.

Individual Cases

  • Mosab Abu Toha

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    Abu Toha is a poet and essayist. In 2017 he opened Gaza’s first English-language library, and in 2022, he published… More


  • Dareen Tatour

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    Tatour, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was detained in 2015 for her poetry and social media posts and kept under… More


  • Ahed Tamimi

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    Tamimi, a Palestinian activist, is author of They Called Me a Lioness. In November 2023, she was arrested in the… More


  • Mustafa Sheta

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    Sheta, known for his activism, is a columnist and producer at The Freedom Theatre. In early December 2023, the Israeli… More


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Free Expression and the War Between Israel and Hamas

A collection of PEN America’s statements and free expression resources for the domestic challenges presented by the war between Israel and Hamas.