Israeli forces arrest veteran Palestinian journalist in West Bank raid
Israeli forces arrested veteran Palestinian journalist Dr Nasser al-Lahham during a violent raid on his home in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem early Monday morning.
Lahham, a 58-year-old journalist with over 30 years of experience reporting from Palestine, is the editor-in-chief of Ma’an News Agency and director of Al-Mayadeen TV’s office in Palestine.
The pre-dawn raid on his home in the village of al-Duha, west of Bethlehem, was described by Al-Mayadeen as “brutal and repressive”.
According to Ma’an, Israeli soldiers stormed the house, ransacked the property, destroyed personal belongings, and confiscated computers and mobile phones before detaining the journalist.
Al-Mayadeen accused Israeli forces of spreading chaos and vandalising Lahham’s home with total disregard for privacy.
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“We are not surprised by the occupation’s sadistic practices and its hostility toward journalists and press freedom,” the network said, calling for his immediate release.
'We are not surprised by the occupation’s sadistic practices and its hostility toward journalists'
- Al-Mayadeen TV
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs confirmed that Israeli authorities had extended Lahham’s detention and referred him to Ofer Military Court until Thursday.
The commission said the arrest is part of a broader policy of targeting journalists, particularly through the use of administrative detention.
This controversial practice, routinely employed by Israeli forces against Palestinians, allows for indefinite detention without charge or trial, often based on undisclosed evidence.
According to the commission, 22 of the 55 Palestinian journalists currently imprisoned are held under administrative detention orders.
Most have not been formally charged, with accusations frequently linked to social media activity labelled as “incitement”.
Israeli crackdown on media
The commission also reported that detained journalists face systematic abuse, including torture, beatings, starvation, medical neglect, and degrading treatment.
Accoding to Arab48 news outlet, more than 10,400 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 47 women, over 440 children, 3,562 administrative detainees, and 2,214 detainees from Gaza classified by Israel as “unlawful combatants.”
Since 7 October 2023, conditions in Israeli prisons have sharply deteriorated, leading to the deaths of dozens of prisoners.
Israeli violations against journalists and press freedom have also escalated significantly since the start of the war, with Palestinian journalists disproportionately targeted.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces have killed at least 228 journalists and media workers.
Authorities have also banned Al Jazeera from reporting in Israel and the occupied West Bank, while barring international media from entering the besieged Gaza Strip.
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