Israeli occupation forces arrest 7 journalists on charges of documenting arrest of unarmed Palestinians

SANAA, Aug. 31 (YPA) – The Israeli occupation forces on Friday arrested seven Palestinian journalists while covering the peaceful protests in the occupied southern Hebron hills.

The journalists said they were arrested for being in a “closed military zone” but army bases allow them to be in such areas, Haaretz reported, as Palestinians were protesting against plans to confiscate the Israeli occupation of their land.

Eyewitnesses from the scene said that there was no violence and that the occupation forces did not use force to disperse the crowd, but a Palestinian citizen was arrested, and when the journalists documented their arrest, they “arrested me too,” Mashhour Waha, who works for the Wafa news agency for the newspaper.

The journalists were taken to the police station in the nearby illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba.

The video clip documenting part of the incident shows a soldier saying: “We will arrest all the journalists. Is this what you want? In another video, a person can hear soldiers yelling for journalists to be seated, followed by a reporter saying, “Don’t hit me.” Cameras were taken from them.

The journalists were released after being held for four hours. They were ordered to return on Sunday. Since then, Waha has filed a complaint against the soldier, who he said used violence against him.

An IDF spokesperson said in response: “Many people who identified themselves as Palestinian journalists were actively and physically involved in trying to increase friction in the area while obstructing the work of army units. Against this background, the unit detained and transferred them. to the police for further treatment.”