LONDON: A team of BBC Arabic journalists covering the Hamas attack on Israel and its unfolding conflict were stopped by police in Tel Aviv and held at gunpoint, the British broadcaster reported.
The journalists, who included Muhannad Tutunji and Haitham Abudiab, were returning to their hotel when their car — marked in red tape with the words “TV” — was intercepted by Israeli police.
They were reportedly dragged out of the vehicle and pushed against a wall and searched, despite the two identifying themselves as members of the press and showing their BBC press badges.
“One of our BBC News Arabic teams deployed in Tel Aviv, in a vehicle clearly marked as media, was stopped and assaulted last night by Israeli police. Journalists must be able to report on the conflict in Israel-Gaza freely,” a BBC spokesperson said.
Tutunji attempted to film the incident as it unfolded but said that his phone was then thrown down and his neck struck.
Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel last week that left more than 1,300 Israelis dead and thousands more injured. Israel’s subsequent retaliation on the Gaza Strip through aerial bombardment has killed more than 1,900 Palestinians.
