An international press association accuses the Israeli army of forcibly preventing a team from the US broadcaster CNN from working in the occupied West Bank.
March 29, 2026, 11:10 amMarch 29, 2026, 11:10 am
“This is a violent attack on clearly identified journalists and a direct attack on press freedom,” said the Foreign Press Association (FPA). The journalists wanted to document the consequences of an attack by Israeli settlers and the establishment of an illegal outpost when they were violently detained. CNN shows a video of the incident.
Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoschani wrote on Platform X that the soldiers’ behavior did not reflect the attitude of the Israeli army. The case is being investigated. He apologized “privately”.
CNN journalist Jeremy Diamond wrote on X that Israeli soldiers attacked a photojournalist and detained his team. The two-hour detention revealed a lot about the motives of these Israeli soldiers: “They are acting in the service of the settler movement.”
The soldiers’ conduct and statements in this incident do not represent the IDF, go against what is expected of IDF soldiers and will be investigated.
In real time, after receiving the report of the incident, we acted to resolve the issue ASAP.
I apologized privately, and I… https://t.co/qRShRtmC0B— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) March 28, 2026
The X-Post by Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoschani
FPA: Journalist taken into stranglehold
According to the FPA, the journalists had clearly identified themselves. The soldiers, however, repeatedly tried to prevent the recordings by threatening to confiscate the camera. Later, a soldier put a CNN journalist in a chokehold, threw him to the ground and damaged his camera. Pointing guns at journalists and civilians, physically attacking a cameraman and detaining a team are actions that cross every line, the journalists’ association wrote.
«This was not a misunderstanding. “It was not the first time that soldiers mistreated journalists in the West Bank,” the FPA continued. She strongly condemns this incident and calls for an immediate and transparent investigation.
«This was not a misunderstanding. It was not the first time that soldiers had mistreated journalists in the West Bank.”
Foreign Press Association (FPA)
Increase in Israeli settler violence
With the start of the Gaza war two and a half years ago, there was also a significant increase in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank. The Israeli security forces are repeatedly accused of not acting decisively enough or even siding with the aggressive settlers.
Israel conquered, among other things, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War in 1967. Today, around 700,000 Israeli settlers live there among three million Palestinians. The Palestinians claim the areas for their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital. (sda/dpa)