The Israeli army announced Monday that it was suspending a reserve battalion after the recent attack and detention of a team of journalists from the American channel CNN in the occupied West Bank.
On Thursday, CNN journalists were covering the aftermath of a settler attack and the installation of an outpost near the Palestinian village of Tayasir (northeast), when it was targeted by Israeli soldiers, according to the Foreign Press Association (FPA).
Although they “clearly identified themselves”, according to the association, journalists and Palestinian civilians were threatened, with soldiers pointing their weapons and ordering filming to stop.
“A soldier approached the CNN photojournalist from behind, grabbed him by the throat, threw him to the ground and damaged his equipment. The team and other Palestinians present were then detained for approximately two hours, deliberately preventing them from carrying out their work,” the FPA said, denouncing a “direct” attack on press freedom.
The international spokesperson for the army, Lieutenant-Colonel Nadav Shoshani, assured that an investigation would be carried out, adding that these actions did not “represent the Israeli army” and went “against what is expected of its members”.
Soldiers will be trained
“In light of the findings of the investigation, the operational deployment currently carried out by the reserve battalion will be suspended,” the army said in a statement early Monday. “The battalion will remain on reserve duty and will undergo a process to strengthen its professional and ethical foundations. It will resume operational activities at the end of this process, subject to the decision of the Commander of Central Command,” she added.
Journalists in the West Bank, territory occupied by Israel since 1967, have on numerous occasions been detained, harassed or beaten, with a marked increase in these incidents since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, according to human rights organizations.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 60 Palestinian journalists have been detained or imprisoned by Israeli forces since October 7, 2023. Although foreigners are less exposed, soldiers at checkpoints or reporting locations frequently point their weapons at journalists.
According to the census of imprisoned journalists published by CPJ in 2025, “Israel is among the main countries imprisoning journalists since 2023”.
