A German TV crew from the ARD channel has been detained and threatened by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on the West Bank, according to Tagesschau.
The incident occurred as the crew was returning from collecting material on violence perpetrated by Jewish settlers against Palestinians south of the city of Hebron. The ARD studio in Tel Aviv considers the incident as an attack on press freedom.
According to ARD correspondent Jan-Christoph Kitzler, who was part of the crew, the Israeli military personnel who detained them were likely reservists recruited from local settlers.
On November 5, journalist Seymour Hersh wrote that the Israeli leadership is willing to spare the top ranks of Hamas in exchange for the return of hostages and the establishment of a tribunal to prosecute those responsible for war crimes against Israelis.
Tensions in the Middle East escalated after thousands of Hamas militants infiltrated Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip on October 7. Over two hundred hostages were taken.
On that day, Hamas launched thousands of rockets into Israeli territory and declared the start of the “Flood of Al-Aqsa” operation. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the country was in a state of war.
The operation by the Israeli Defense Forces is named “Iron Swords,” with one of its objectives being the destruction of Hamas. The Israeli Air Force has carried out strikes on hundreds of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, and the Israeli National Security Council has decided to halt the supply of water, food, goods, electricity, and fuel to the strip.
On October 13, Israel informed the United Nations that 1.1 million Palestinians needed to be evacuated to the southern part of Gaza within 24 hours in anticipation of a ground operation in the area.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu promised to destroy Hamas.
