Arab News | Israeli forces targeted journalists during Hebron raid, press group says

LONDON: The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Tuesday that Israeli forces detained reporters, and fired tear gas and directed lasers at news crews, during a major raid in Hebron over the weekend, in what the organization described as “escalating violence” against the media.

“Israeli forces are escalating their attacks on journalists across the West Bank, detaining reporters, firing tear gas at media covering their operations, and intercepting news crews, among other actions,” said Sara Qudah, the committee’s regional director.

“Israeli authorities must immediately end these attacks and ensure journalists can report freely and safely. Continued international silence only emboldens perpetrators, and further endangers the press.”

Israeli troops launched their raid on Friday after two Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack by Palestinian gunmen. Authorities imposed sweeping road closures and restrictions on movement across Hebron.

The committee said Israeli forces detained Musab Qafesha, a freelancer based in Hebron, and Riad Khamiss, head of Radio Fourth, for several hours on Saturday. Qafesha was previously detained three times, most recently in October 2023, and lost 45 kilograms during a year in detention.

Troops also raided the Hebron offices of Al-Ghad TV on Saturday. The channel said the army turned its offices into a military barracks, and that one of its news crews was intercepted by soldiers two days later.

Journalists also reported that Israeli forces had used lasers against media workers. And on Monday, Al-Araby TV journalist Fadi Al-Assa said an Israeli drone hovered over him and colleagues as they worked.

The accusations came amid a dispute over an Agence France-Presse photographer, Hazem Bader, who was reportedly accused by anonymous Israeli army sources of having prior knowledge of the deadly attack on Israeli soldiers on Friday.

AFP said Bader was traveling to an assignment when he happened upon the scene of the shooting and began to document it. His photographs showed gunmen firing and later lying dead at the scene, near a petrol station.

Israeli police denied that Bader had any advance knowledge of the incident. The Foreign Press Association also said the accusation was “completely untrue” and it “puts journalists working to keep the world informed at risk.”

Separately, Israeli settlers on Friday vandalized a memorial near Jenin dedicated to the Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by Israeli forces while covering a raid there in 2022.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said the recent incidents followed a series of violations by Israeli soldiers and settlers targeting Palestinian and foreign journalists in the West Bank, particularly during the ongoing olive-harvesting season.

They also came just days before Israel’s general election on Tuesday, amid reports that several foreign journalists had been barred from entering the country to cover the vote because of their perceived views or prior reporting.