RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Israeli forces on Wednesday detained a Palestinian journalist who worked for news outlets including AFP, his family and witnesses said, in the latest arrest of a reporter in the West Bank.
Mohammed Awad, 38, who has shot videos for AFP in the occupied Palestinian territory, was taken away from his home near Ramallah at 6:00 am, his wife Iman Shalash said.
Israeli soldiers “blindfolded him, handcuffed him and took him” to a military vehicle, said Shalash.
Awad unreachable
The Israeli military, contacted by AFP multiple times on the reasons for Awad’s detention, did not immediately comment. Awad was not reachable.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, a non-governmental group that advocates for detained Palestinians, said that Awad’s detainment brought to 40 the number of Palestinian journalists held by Israel, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate called Awad’s arrest “an extension of the occupation’s systematic policy of targeting Palestinian journalists.”
It is part of “a continuous attempt to silence the voice of the press and obstruct the transmission of the truth,” it said.
