London-based newspaper The New Arab announced on Tuesday the release of one of its Palestinian journalists, held by Israel since December, who said he had been tortured, AFP reported.

Reporter Dia Al-Kahlut, a pan-Arab media correspondent in Gaza, was one of dozens of Palestinians arrested in early December by Israel in the northern Gaza Strip, their images broadcast on Israeli TV channels.

They were shown in their underwear, blindfolded and guarded by Israeli soldiers. The pictures went viral on social networks and caused a heated discussion.

The Israeli army cited security concerns to justify its actions, and the detainees were portrayed as Hamas fighters, which the Palestinian Islamist movement denied as “lies”.

Kalout was released in Gaza, according to The New Arab, a Qatari news site.

The 37-year-old journalist told his employer that he faced “unspeakably harsh” conditions from “the moment” he was arrested. He said that he was beaten and tortured.

According to the non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), after his arrest, the journalist was briefly held in Eshel prison in southern Israel and subjected to torture.

“RSF calls for the immediate release of all detained journalists and the immediate protection of all Palestinian journalists,” Jonathan Dager, RSF’s Middle East representative, said in a report released on Tuesday.

Since the start of the deadly war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the Palestinian Islamist movement’s unprecedented attack on Israeli territory, 38 Palestinian journalists have been arrested and 31 remain in custody, according to Reporters Without Borders.

In response to footage shot by Israeli soldiers, the non-governmental organization Amnesty International on December 20 demanded that Israel “release” all “arbitrarily detained” Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and shed full light on the deaths, “enforced mass disappearances” and “inhumane crimes.” treatment”.