Israeli police raided locations where TV crews stayed in the country upon far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s orders amid the Iran-Israel conflict. Crews of TRT Arabi, an Arabic-language TV station operated by the Turkish public broadcaster, were among the crews hunted down by Israeli forces.
“Broadcasts that show exactly where the missiles land on the State of Israel are a danger to the security of the state and I expect that anyone who does this will be treated as someone who harms the security of the state,” Ben-Gvir said in statements carried by The Times of Israel news outlet on Monday.
Police also seized the equipment of TV crews. A statement by police said they acted upon a "tipoff" and under “zero tolerance” directives of the ministers and raided the hotel where crews were staying. Police said their raid targeted “people who pointed their cameras at the Haifa port.”
Iranian missiles struck Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Haifa on Monday, in retaliation for Israel’s attacks against Iran that began last Friday. The police statement said journalists whose equipment was seized were also summoned for questioning. Other targets of Israeli raids were the crew of a Dubai-based TV station.
Live broadcast of Iranian missiles hitting an oil refinery in Haifa on Monday by Qatar-based Al-Jazeera sparked outrage in Israel, and Ben-Gvir has called the intelligence agency Shin Bet to take action against TV broadcasts "endangering state security." Ben-Gvir has emphasized that they applied censorship against the media to "prevent helping Iran to carry out precision strikes," claiming TV broadcasts live from the struck locations were crimes.
Israel’s prison authorities also reportedly carried out assaults on Palestinian prisoners in their cells following the alleged celebration of Iranian attacks by prisoners.
Amjad al-Najjar, head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS), was quoted as saying by Palestinian media that Israeli prison units, accompanied by police dogs, raided wards and brutally assaulted Palestinian detainees with batons and tear gas after handcuffing them.
Fahrettin Altun, head of the Turkish Presidency's Directorate of Communications, condemned Israel's attacks on TV crews.
"The Israeli government, unfortunately, continues its lawless actions directed against the journalists who cry out to all humanity about the massacres it has committed, the bloodshed and tears it has caused, its strategy of destabilizing the region, and the threat it has posed to world peace. In recent hours, the live broadcast of TRT Arabic correspondent Fehmi Shtewe and his team from the city of Haifa was cut off by the Israeli police, and their equipment was seized – this is the latest manifestation of this insanity. The Israeli police, acting unlawfully, proceeded to the location where Fehmi was broadcasting, used violence against the Egyptian television channel Alghad TV and the TRT Arabic team, whose sole duty is to report the news. We vehemently condemn this heinous assault on the freedom of the press and the right to information. We leave it to global public opinion to judge the silence of the West and its 'democratic' institutions regarding these violations, particularly if and when Israel is the perpetrator, ascribing no significance to any norms or values and completely disregarding them. Once again, we condemn this abominable act. We will continue to be ardent followers and proponents of freedom of expression, the freedom to receive information, and the rights of media professionals," Alton wrote in a social media post on Tuesday.
