World News

I get 403: Forbidden from OP's source, so here's a translation of the German article:

Incident in the West Bank: ARD (German public broadcasting) team detained by Israeli soldiers

Last update: November 05, 2023 8:50 pm

An ARD team was detained and threatened by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank on their way back from researching violence by radical settlers against Palestinians. The ARD studio in Tel Aviv sees this as a clear attack on the freedom of the press.

An ARD team has been detained and threatened by soldiers of the Israeli military (IDF) in the Palestinian West Bank. According to the ARD studio in Tel Aviv, which is operated by Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), correspondent Jan-Christoph Kitzler was already on his way back from an interview with a Palestinian employee and a German employee when they were stopped by Israeli soldiers south of the Palestinian city of Hebron.

As Kitzler reports and cell phone videos of the team prove, the soldiers behaved extremely aggressively towards the ARD team. Weapons were repeatedly held in the team vehicle. The soldiers repeatedly filmed the ARD team at close range - for Kitzler and the team a clear attempt at intimidation. Soldiers apparently conscripted reservists

According to the team, the soldiers were probably settlers from the area who had been called up as reservists. They were traveling in a private vehicle and were wearing civilian headgear.

"The soldiers threatened us with their weapons and asked us if we were Jewish. Our colleague was insulted as a traitor," reports Kitzler. The ARD team was there to report on violence by radical settlers against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. This has increased significantly since the start of the war and numerous cases have been documented. "We cannot accept this approach"

For Christian Limpert, head of the ARD studio in Tel Aviv, the case is an attempt to massively obstruct reporting from the Palestinian West Bank, and other international media are also affected. "This is the second incident for us within a week. Our team clearly identified itself as accredited press representatives and was far away from military security areas. We cannot accept the actions of the Israeli military."

The situation only eased after more than an hour, when additional Israeli soldiers and police were called in. The IDF's Foreign Desk, which is responsible for foreign correspondents, also mediated by telephone.

BR considers the event to be an attack on the freedom of the press. According to BR editor-in-chief Christian Nitsche, the multiple pointing of the gun is completely unacceptable. The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel, among others, has also announced that it will take action in the matter. The ARD studio in Tel Aviv will commission a lawyer to examine a legal investigation into the incident.